


Never Be The Same

by LisaMack



Series: Gimme that strange relationship Never felt pleasure and pain like this [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-12
Updated: 2014-05-01
Packaged: 2018-01-19 02:11:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 91,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1451575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LisaMack/pseuds/LisaMack
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Adelaide Jones, finds herself reconnecting with the Winchester brothers after many years apart and is thrown in the middle of the war raging between Heaven and Hell. DeanXOFC. Some disturbing situations and language.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Lover Hostage in an aeroplane

On the outskirts of the Kenyon Farm County Forest Preserve, I lay in wait. For the fourth day in a row, I have been staking out the same run down cabin. Four days of my body being cramped into the seat behind the wheel of my car with minimal chances to relieve my body or muscles for fear that I might miss my targets leaving the house, I feel it's needless to say that I was starting to feel the affects of the hours I had spent within the confines of my classic muscle car.

My back and knees are screaming in pain from being confined to the driver's side of my beloved 1967 Pontiac GTO. I could have given myself a break during the daylight hours in order to retired to a motel for a hot bath or a nap in a somewhat proper bed. But, I couldn't help but wonder, what if I missed them? I swear I'm not a glutton for punishment. It's just that I've come _this_ far. I _have_ to see this job through to the end. They've been so hard to track and now that I've found their trail, there was no way that I was going to let this coven of vampires out of my line of sight in any way shape or form.

The gruesome path of destruction that these vampires had left behind was reestablished in St. Cloud, Minnesota. They had not only sucked a family of four dry, but it also looked like they had had a fine time and had enjoyed playing with their 'food'. The depraved bastards… It made me sick every time that I remembered that they had even taken pictures of the children while they were being tortured. I have no doubt they relished in watching the looks of horror on the parent's faces at seeing the pictures, although God only knew if those soulless monsters had left the visuals at that, before finally slitting their throats and enjoying a mighty banquet.

The authorities believe the carnage was the handiwork of a group of Satanists, and who could blame them? Vampires don't usually mutilate their victims like this group does. For them it's not enough to take a life to get the blood they need to survive. This coven enjoys… no _delights_ … in torturing and tormenting their victims. My only guess was that it gets the blood pumping faster out of their victims, so that they could get their fill that much quicker. Then again maybe it was also because they were a bunch of soulless monsters who did it because they could.

So here I am tucked into the drivers' seat of my car in Clintonville, Illinois, after following the blood trail along the I-94. I was able to trail a newer member of the coven to the Preserve within the city's limits. The cabin in front of me was the only abandoned building that could easily house all five of them or heaven forbid even more if they had 'recruited' new members without my knowledge. I've been waiting… trying to get one of them alone out here in the bush so that I can get a better handle on the situation that I'll be dealing with while trying to eradicate this group of bloodsucking fiends. I have to make sure that all five of them are there, so that I know that I can finish this once and for all or I might never be able to allow myself to get a proper night's sleep guilt-free ever again.

And here I sit, sipping yet another Punched-Citrus flavored Rock Star. I am hoping that the fizzing green liquid in the black over-sized soda can will help me to remain somewhat alert. This is the "glamorous" life of a hunter; sleep deprived and running on adrenaline and caffeine, or whatever it is that they put in these damned drinks to keep your eye lids from gluing shut against your better judgement. I checked the can again to make sure I wasn't going to overdose on something that would cause some sort of permanent irreparable damage.

 _What's the recommended daily limit?_ I thought to myself.

"Psh, not that it makes a difference," I said out-loud to myself with a cynical laugh. "So long as I don't start seeing things…"

As if my rambling words were a cue, movement to my right freezes me before I can finish that thought. My thoughts ran wild… What the hell was that?! Maybe I have had a few too many energy drinks and not enough sleep and actually have started seeing things.

_Wait! No, I'm not crazy!_

That was a person… a really, really tall person. And were they with someone? Yeah, there were two people… well given the silhouettes that I was witnessing, I had to admit that they were two men to be precise. _Idiots!_ I hissed in my mind when I noticed that they were headed straight for the cabin.

"Dammit!" I cursed under my breath. I reached under my passenger side seat to grab the mini machete my mother had custom made for my sixteenth birthday. I felt the onyx handle of the hilt and pulled it out without taking my eyes off the two obvious morons heading towards the bushes that lined the yard of the cabin. "Why couldn't they find a better place for a late night rendezvous?" I asked no one in particular… perhaps I was hoping some invisible force would hear and intervene to convince them to find somewhere else to have their secret coupling.

I snuck out of the driver side of my car as silently as was physically possible in the still night to also make my way towards the cabin. I wasn't exactly looking forward to taking on those five blood-lusting vampires on my own, but I would never be able to live with myself if I didn't try to save these two guys by stopping them from entering the dilapidated building where they were nothing but walking snacks for its inhabitants. Who wouldn't try to do what ever they could to save someone else, knowing the kind of soulless killers that awaited them inside?

As I approached the two figures bent down behind the shrubs, I could hear them whispering. I closed in so that I could hear them better, but the conversation wasn't anything close to the tawdriness I had initially expected.

"Since we don't know how many are there, be extra careful, okay? Let's get a look at them, find out how many we're dealing with, then we'll regroup and finalize a plan. Got it?"

"Yeah, sounds good."

"Okay, I'll take the back, you take the front."

Luckily they were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn't hear me creep up behind them before I announced in a hushed yell, "Actually there's a least 5 of them."

It sounded to me like they were hunters, so why not share what I knew? We were a good ten feet from the stairs to the cabin with a four foot dense hedge for cover. The chances that we would be heard by the potential occupants of the house if we spoke at a normal volume were slim, but since they were whispering I figured I'd startle them less if I did the same to help keep them from announcing our presence to my... or rather _our_ targets.

After my words came out, they both jumped, ever so slightly, and the taller one ended up flat on his ass. "Sorry." I said with an apologetic tone, offering my hand to help him to his knees again. The tall man gratefully accepted my hand.

"And how would you know?" the shorter one said with an undeniable hiss.

_That voice… it had to be... shit... shit... SHIT!_

"Because _DEAN_ , I've been tracking them for the past 500 miles and this coven has yet to lose a member," I said with a less-than-amused tone.

"You know each other?" Sam asked, utterly surprised and confused from his spot on the ground while trying to make out my features in the dim twilight.

Dean shrugged before he added sounding somewhat unsure, "I guess"

 _Of course he doesn't remember me,_ I thought bitterly to myself.

"Follow me. We can go over a plan in my car," I said while pointing towards my beautiful Fathom Blue GTO. They both shrugged and seemed to accept that I too was hunter, or at the very least someone that they probably shouldn't ignore. They followed me as I inched my way back to the car.

Once inside the relative safety of the gray leather interior, we all get a good look at each other and Dean's cheeks flushed immediately from what I hoped was embarrassment, but most likely was just a flush of heat from being out of the cold. I could tell he didn't recognize my voice at first, but now with being in a dimly lit car and seeing the petite, auburn haired, brown eyed woman with whom he shared freaking fantastic memories in front of him he seemed to have a slight change of heart.

"Lay? Is that you?" Dean asked before he paused. "Wow! You grew up good." He _had_ to have been eyeing me up and down while I was illuminated by the dome light of my car, but right now it was too dark to tell for sure.

"Thanks Dean, you don't look so bad yourself. Apparently death becomes you."

Thank God the dome light had faded out because I could feel my own cheeks flaring up as my heart started thumping against my rib bones like an African drum. _Damn,_ I thought to myself. _He **does** look good_. Suddenly, all the feelings I thought I had buried down deep all those years ago came rushing back, despite my ten year effort to keep them thoroughly suppressed.

Ignoring my conflicting feelings for the man in the front seat, I turn to The Hulk that occupied the majority of my cars rear bench seat. "That must make you the infamous Sam Winchester," I said through a smile before offering my hand.

"Infamous? Really?" He asked stunned before accepting my hand. "Nice to me you too…" I suddenly realized that during the exchange between Dean and myself, Sam hadn't actually heard my full name.

"Oh, sorry! I'm Adelaide Jones. Most people call me 'Addy', but apparently your brother still wants to annoy me by calling me 'Lay'."

"Hey, you can't blame me that it fits you to a tee."

"Shut up Dean!" I said while punching him in the arm with my free hand as I shook his brother's over-sized mitt.

"Umm… well as fun as this reunion is…" Sam interrupted in an attempt to get us back on track. "What do you know about the situation in there?" He asked, jutting his chin in the direction of the boarded up cabin.

"Right. Sorry. They are a close knit coven of five vampires. They like to set up camp in a town until they single out their next victim family to torture and snack on."

"And they set up here…"

"About four days ago," I said. "And there hasn't been much movement since. Other than the newest member, Luke, who left and returned earlier tonight. I think he was out scouting for victims."

"So what was your plan? Just sit out here and keep watch over them?" Dean said with the utmost sarcasm.

"No, genius," I said mimicking his tone the best I could. "Without backup I wasn't going to storm the place and get myself killed. I was waiting until the group started to move out because they always move in waves. I figured I had a better chance on my own when the group spilt up as they moved out, but… but now that you guys are here…"

"We can come up with a new plan," Sam said smiling warmly, cutting through the tension that was mounting between Dean and myself.

"Sure, why not?" I asked noncommittally with a shrug.

As a group, we eventually decided to stick with Dean's original plan; Split up and get a lay of the land. Dean would be going in the back, Sam through the front and I would cover the basement next to the back stairs. The only deviation from the plan is that instead of regrouping after getting a look at the targets, we're going in to systematically take any member of the target group out as we found them. Since there's three of us now, we can position ourselves quite nicely to attack them in an organized fashion. We were hoping we could catch the group off guard and separate them for the kill without alerting their brethren which would meant that our own lives stayed out of harm's way.

"Okay, everybody understand?" Dean asked as we all started to branch out from the large hedge.

"Yep!" Sam and I confirmed, heading to our posts.

I finally made my way inside the dark, dusty, musty smelling basement (after fighting to pick what can only be described as the world's rustiest lock). As soon as I made my way in through a cobweb, I heard grunting and banging coming from upstairs.

 _I guess Dean and Sam started the party without me._ I thought to myself, mildly annoyed and slightly jealous. Not allowing this jealousy to overcome and distract me, I quickly surveyed the area while making my way to the stairs. In my haste to join in on the action, I failed to notice the dark figure skulking and mirroring my actions behind me.

"Adelaide," he said through a low hiss. "How the hell did you find us?!"

Before I could utter my usual witty (or as some might accuse 'smartass') comeback, I felt a booted foot connect with the small of my back. The force of the kick caused me to lunge forward into the rotting wooden stairs that I had previously been making my way towards. I felt a pop in my left shoulder as it hit the edge of one the stairs along with the accompanying burning sensation of a dislocated shoulder while I kept my face from becoming a victim of the rest of the stairs for now.

"Guess that means you didn't miss me, Jax," I said with strained sarcasm through the pain that was now screaming through my arm. As I labored and straightened myself into a standing position, I was trying not to favor my left side too much. The last thing I needed to do was to reveal the enormous amount of pain that radiated from my shoulder right now while this disgusting monster watched me.

_THUD!_

"And I guess you didn't come alone," Jax said as he began to approach me. Thankfully in the soft light of the dim basement he appeared to be unarmed. I could make out his 6' 3", emaciated vampire corpse, clad simply in a pair of torn black jeans, black T-shirt and signature black biker boots and thankfully couldn't see any weapons immediately evident in his hands.

"Maybe I did. And then again maybe I didn't," I said as we started to circle each other. "Then again maybe your minions are just clumsy." Pleased with my own verbal sparring, I finally got a better grip on my machete in my non-abused right hand, flipping it with my right wrist to prove that I was ready for the inevitable fight between myself and the leader of the pack.

_THUD! THUD!_

My eyes turned to the stairs that were now to my left. I was confident in the Winchester brothers' abilities during a fight due to my history with Dean and his father, however,for some reason, my attention strayed from my absolute immediate task at hand. That of course allowed Jax to use the diversion to plant a powerful right hook into the left side of my jaw. Shortly after, he followed swiftly by a left upper-cut and before I could fall back, Jax had caught me by my throat in order to add to the damage he had already caused to my now battered body.

"And now we finish this once and for all!" He said into my left ear before throwing me through a lead glass door that shattered under the impact of my weight.

The attack left me laying on my right side, covered in glass, unarmed because my machete had landed half a foot away from me once I fell. Mini gashes formed on any exposed skin once the glass shattered against me which included my back where my shirt had ridden up a bit as my body tried to settle into the floor.

Cautiously I raised myself off the ground with my good arm, still trying to keep my left from moving. I expelled a mouthful of dense metallic tasting liquid, sliding a bit on the pool of slippery blood that had formed from what must have been a pretty nasty cut on my upper right arm and slipped a few times before I thought that I had found my 'footing'. Seeing my apparent helplessness, Jax took his time making his approach and then he kicked my arm out from under me. Suddenly he was grabbing and jerking me up with my damaged left arm before I could fall back down into the mess of blood, glass and wood behind me. He grinned, so delighted with the injuries he had already incurred. I could now see, under the dim light of the single hanging light bulb that illuminated the newly found room, a demented smirk spreading wider and wider across his face. I knew that meant that Jax was plotting the "fun" he was going to have inflicting more pain on my increasingly frail body until he was 'stopped' or until my pain no longer amused him.

"Please…don't… stop…stopppp…" I said absentmindedly as I somehow regained a grip of the handle on my trusty sword-like weapon.

"Awww, little Adelaide is begging for mercy," he said with a mock coo. Lifting my limp body by my wounded left arm, he brought my left ear up to his lips and seductively whispered, "Keep it up beautiful. That's just going to make this more fun."

He then proceeded to connect punch after punch with his left fist onto my eye. He pulled me forward with my left arm as the impact of each blow jerked my body backwards. "That's for Estella… and Sophie… and Jordie. For all my family members that you took from me!"

_THUMP! THUMP!_

During the beating, all I could do was breath shallowly and bleed even though I had truly wanted to counter each of his snide remarks with one or two of my own. The blade in my right hand was now hanging limply in my hand and was becoming increasingly useless as the beating progressed.

_Okay, Addy, how are you getting out of this one?_

"This is gonna be…"

_THUNK! THUD! THUMP!_

Before Jax could finish his taunting, my body flopped lifelessly to the ground. As my head hit the glass covered ground, I looked at the lifeless eyes of his decapitated head. I also felt the full weight of his body on my own.

"Lay! Lay! Can you move?!" Dean said with a slightly panicked tone.

"Mrrimphr" was the only sound I could utter.

Feeling the dead weight removed from my legs I heard Sam say with a reassuring tone, "Don't worry, I've got cha."

 _ **I ball till I fall…I stunt till I drop.**_ My phone's ringtone cut through the silence while I was being carried out in Sam's strong arms.

"Toby… Toby…" I said through a moan before finally passing out, yielding to the healing darkness my brain craved.

Keeping pace with Sam, Dean had grabbed my machete out of my hand and direct Sam to my car. "Check her right front pocket, Sammy. Her car keys should be there. I'll meet you back at the motel."

"Okay, got 'em. Hey Dean?" Sam said, stopping Dean before he could tear off to his beloved Impala. "We might need more supplies."

"Yeah, you're right. I'll stop at the pharmacy on the way back."


	2. Lover Feels like I've been here all day

I awoke slowly to the gentle touch of someone removing my badly torn top from my upper body while I was presumed to be unconscious on some kind of bed or mattress-like place to sleep.

"Hey buddy, I just met you," I attempted to joke, but was immediately betrayed by my sleep deprived, raspy voice and sounded more annoyed and offended than I had meant to with my comment.

"Sorry! I… it's… I needed…" Sam stumbled over his response uncomfortably. Sam pulled his hands away from my damaged body as fast as he could. He then tossed my t-shirt into a random corner of the room without fully thinking that his action might have caused his 'patient' any further distress.

"It's okay Sam," I said in the hopes to reassure him. I winced as I pushed myself up off the mattress with my right arm into a sitting position. The pain of the dislocation still screaming from my left shoulder became unbearable as I moved. "FUCK!" I swore immediately and loudly, which alarmed Sam.

"What is it?!" Sam said as he jumped closer. He had a look of uncertainty as he clenched his outstretched hands into fists, not knowing where the greatest amount of pain was coming from or what he could do right now to try to alleviate some of the pain.

"My left shoulder," I just barely managed to get out through gritted teeth.

"Oh, yeah. I was waiting on Dean to bring back a little something to help with the pain before I reset it."

"No worries. It's not my first. Think you can pop it back into place for me?" I asked as sweetly as possible. I would have batted my eyes to complete the effect, but found that my left eye was swollen completely shut so I knew there was no way it would have worked.

"I sure can. But… are you sure you don't wanna wait for some… uhh… anesthetics?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Just pass me my belt and I'll be fine." I said with an attempt to smile.

I don't think that I've seen a more handsome face contort into such a horrific look of confusion as Sam unhitched my pewter and turquoise, Indian motif belt buckle. He gently guided the black leather out of each loop on my now ripped faded denim jeans and placed it in my outstretched right hand. As I placed the leather in my mouth, Sam's face lit up with recognition. He was finally realizing that I was using it as a gag to stifle any screaming that would result from his wrenching my arm into its proper position. I had learned the trick from my mom when I was 15 and I continued to do it 14 years later.

"Okay, ready?" Sam asked. I nodded, although you can never be completely prepared for the pain. "On three. One…two…"

_POP! POP! SNAP!_

"RRRFFFFPHFFF!"

Sam gently wiped away the involuntary tears that shed from my unharmed right eye with his left thumb. He kindly said to me in a whisper, "Sorry."

After taking the belt out of my mouth, I smiled. "It's fine Sam, you didn't do anything you need to apologize for. And… thank you."

I rolled my shoulders before I started to push myself off the bed. I was trying to make my way to the bathroom in order to investigate the damage that Jax had caused. I probably moved too fast, because a wave of dizziness overcame me causing me to stumble as I tried to take a step. Luckily Sam was close by and he steadied me with his large frame.

"Hey, hey, hey! Take it easy, Adelaide."

"Thanks again," I said sheepishly. I sat back on the bed with my legs dangling over the side. I then felt blood trickling down my right arm.

"Sorry, I haven't gotten to stitching that yet," Sam said with an apologetic tone while nodding at my arm. He retrieved a needle and thread, necessary tools to perform the patch job.

"Again, no worries Sam. I'll try to keep my movements to minimum until you're done playing doctor."

Suddenly I felt my cheeks redden after my joke. I just realized I was now sitting on a "no-tell motel" bed in nothing more than my ripped jeans and a black lace bra, while holding onto my belt. If this was any other day (and I wasn't covered in so many fresh cuts and bruises), I could have been gearing up for a full night of the most fun a girl could have. Instead, I was steadying myself and trying to ignore the huge wave of nausea that was overcoming me due to the enormous amount of pain that my body was feeling.

"Well I have to say that you are a much more accommodating patient than Dean," he said while inserting the needle into my arm. He started to stitch the gash that ran vertically down my upper right arm.

I grinned, mostly to myself, and let out a gentle laugh trying not to move my arm too much while he worked. "Pretty sure that competition isn't too stiff."

"Yeah," he said through a chuckle. "Okay, just a couple more. And… done."

"Hmmm that was quick."

"Despite the blood, it wasn't too bad. Only about two inches long, but deep. It didn't take too many stitches to close up."

"So… shoulder's fixed, arm's stitched… I think you got the worst of it."

"Uh huh. But I still need to clean up those cuts all over your back for you. We found you in a pile of glass."

"And that would explain this," I sighed out dejectedly, pulling out a piece of glass from my hair with my now functioning left hand.

"Oh, hey! Let me help you with that," Sam said. He turned back to me after placing the tools he used back into the First Aid kit.

"And again I say 'Thank you'," I said through a moan and a chuckle.

Sam closed the distance between us in lone long stride. He leaned into me to get a better look at the back of my head to extract any stray pieces of glass still logged in the lengths of my auburn locks. As he was gingerly removing a piece of glass from the left backside of my head, I closed my eyes and inhaled his scent unconsciously because my face was now pressed into his chest. I almost forgot where I was and the horrific events of the evening in this moment and actually allowed myself to relax against him.

"Hey, if you two needed a couple of extra minutes alone to finish up your little tryst, I'm more than willing to accommodate. But, I believe the standard is to leave a sock on the door handle," Dean said as he closed the door with his hip. He had to struggle to steady the paper bag in his leg arm since the swaying motion made it falter.

"Dean," Sam said with an frustrated tone, obviously annoyed at his brother's immature commentary. "There, that should be it."

"Thanks again," I smiled.

"Here," Dean said as he shoved a bottle of Jack Daniels in my face.

"Thanks anyway. I'm okay," I said before waving him off. "I think I'm through the worst of it. Besides, I prefer to knock 'em back for fun. After a good night's sleep, I'll have to take you out for a celebratory drink. Man, do I owe you BIG."

The two Winchester brothers exchanged uncertain glances after I finished speaking. I'm sure that they thought that they had been covert, but I had seen the exchange and I was instantly suspicious.

"What?"

"Um… we might want to make that a 'stay-in' celebration," Sam said. He quickly started to busy himself with the bag of goods Dean had brought in with him.

Dean nodded in the direction of the bathroom then avoided any making any further eye contact.

I slowly made my way to the bathroom, learning from my earlier mistake of just jumping off the bed. Once there, I grabbed onto the sink to steady myself and gasped. "Wow."

I tentatively touched my left eye. I hadn't realized how much damage Jax had done while pummeling my face just a few hours ago. "Guess you're right Sam.," I said finally. "Geez, Jax sure did do a number on me, eh? Hey, remind me again why I'm not dead."

"We caught the other four sleeping," Dean said through bites of his bacon cheeseburger. "When you hadn't made it upstairs, we went down to find you."

"It didn't take long and Dean chopped the head off that creep, then I brought you back here to fix you up," Sam finished.

"Oh… well, thanks again," I managed to get out while feeling like I was at a loss for words. _Dean Winchester saved my life._ I turned back to the sink and ran some cold water over a face cloth to put it on my purple puffed-up eye. I then made my way back to the bed that I had found myself on when I first woke up.

Dean was still chewing on his cheeseburger at the table while eyeing up and down me with a gigantic smirk on his face.

"Now what's your deal, Dean?" I asked becoming increasingly annoyed. I knew that THAT look on HIS face meant that he was cooking something up in his brain.

"Nothing. I bought some ice for your eye," he said through a snicker before finishing the last bites of his burger. "That's if you aren't feeling too chilly already." He finished with a wiggle of his eyebrows suggestively.

 _CRAP!_ I looked down. I had totally forgotten that Sam had cut my black tee off in order to tend to my wounds.

"Umm…" I said but trailed off.

"Your duffle bag is right here," Sam said. He passed me the faded green, army issue duffle with "JONES" printed across the side.

"Thanks." _God! Addy, get a new_ _word_. I mentally chastised myself.

I placed it on the bed beside me and riffled through it. I pulled out a grey oversized men's tee, hoping it wouldn't cling too much to the now healing scraps and gashes all over my upper body. Once it was pulled over my head, Sam was passing me a bag full of ice wrapped in a fairly clean t-shirt.

"Can I get you anything else?" He asked as pleasantly as possible.

"A beer would be great."

"Here you go," Dean said while popping the top off a bottle he had retrieved from the fridge.

After taking a long swig of the ice cold, frosty Bud Light, I sighed. "I really can't thank you guys enough. Hell, the word 'Thank you' doesn't even seem to cut it. I don't know how I'll ever repay you."

"Oh, I'm sure you'll find a way," Dean said with his patented shit-eating grin.

"Dean…" Sam said with a groan. "Don't be a jerk. We were happy to help, Adelaide. I just wish we could have gotten to you quicker."

"Seriously Sam, please don't blame yourself. It's not like this was my first hunt. I don't know why I wasn't paying more attention."

"Well let's not dwell on it then. Sam and I ganked the bastards, so go team!" Dean said with a cheerful tone as he raised his beer in an obvious attempt to change the subject.

I smiled as I said, "I'll drink to that!" _Dean Winchester saved my life. MY life._ I mused again to myself. _Never in a million years did I think…_

"So. Umm…can I ask you a question?" Sam asked, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Hmm? Yeah, shoot." I said encouraging him after swallowing another swig of beer.

Sam avoided making eye contact by picking at the label of his beer bottle. "Umm…who's 'Toby'?"

Totally taken by surprise, I choke on the amber liquid flowing from the bottle in my hand. "Pardon?"

"When I picked you up, your phone went off and the last thing you said before passing out was 'Toby'."

"I did?" _SHIT FUCK! I missed Toby's call! He must be worried sick!_

Putting my bottle on the nearby night stand, I stood up and took my phone out of my left hip pocket. The red indicator light on my Blackberry Curve told me I had a message. Pressing the center button then revealed 12 missed calls and what I could only assume were 12 increasingly panicked messages.

"Could you guys excuse me a sec?" I asked while stepping out of the room. On my way out I hit the speed dial for the only number on all of my missed calls without waiting for either of the brothers to respond.

"Hey…"

Sam and Dean looked at each other, both cocking an eyebrow inquisitively. Dean then shrugged; tossed his empty can into the trash and got up to get another beer from the fridge. I returned just as he was taking his first swig, making his way back to his chair at the table. I walked back to the bed, staring at the black screen on my phone. Once I finally looked up, I noticed a set of hazel and green eyes staring at me intently. When I quickly looked down again and sat on the bed, I could feel Dean roll his eyes as he said, "Forget it Sammy. She ain't gonna answer your question. That's just not 'Lay's Way'."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. Here we saved your ass, you proclaim you have no idea how you'll repay us," he said with a condescending tone. "And the one simple question Sam asks you, you avoid and ignore."

"I wasn't avoiding his question, Dean!" I retorted a little to angrily. "I had something I had to take care of before I could get to it. So please, do excuse me for having to take a moment," I spat out, tears of anger forming in the corner of my eyes.

"Hey, it's no be deal. Really." Sam said, trying to calm the hostility mounting between Dean and I. "You don't have to answer. It really isn't all that important."

"What!?" Dean questioned with an annoyed huff.

"I mean, if you're not comfortable talking about it…" Sam let his thought trail off there.

I slumped and sighed. _Geez, he's being so sweet._ Feeling like a complete ass I apologetically started, "No, it's not that, Sam. It's just…if I missed his calls, I know he'd be worried. I just wanted, well needed, to make sure to call him to let him know I was okay." I place the cold compact on my eye as I collected my thoughts.

 _So which version do you tell them, Addy?_ "Uh, Toby's my neighbor's son."

Sam looked up from his bottle, then he and Dean exchanged the same "What the hell?" looks they swapped when I left the room to make my call.

"Well… he's more like a cousin… or little brother. He and his parents are the closest thing I have to family since my parents passed away. He calls me every night to check up on me when I'm hunting."

"They know you're a hunter?!" Dean exclaimed.

"Yeah. His mom, my Auntie Mo, became instant family after my mum helped her and Uncle Bill with a nasty ghost problem when they first moved to town. So it was kinda hard not to clue them into the truth about the… uh… family business."

"Oh…I see," they both said under their breaths.

"Toby's really excited because he just made it onto the roster as the starting first baseman for his Little League team. He really wants me to see him start his first game too and was once again confirming I was heading home soon. So…"

"And you got a hold of him?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, I did. He was really, really scared when he couldn't reach me. But, I explained that I had gotten hurt and some friends were taking care of me. So, he's good now."

Sam kicked Dean under the table.

"Shit! Sam! What the hell!?"

Sam motioned towards me with his head, trying to be discreet in telling his brother to apologize for the snide remark he made earlier. I caught onto what he was trying to do, while picking up my bag and heading for the chair with my black bomber jacket.

"Forget about it Sam. Dean's right. The Addy Jones he last met wouldn't have answered that question so easily. But people do change, Winchester. God! It's been 12 years for Christ's sake! Some of us have grown up you know."

At the door, I turned my attention back to Sam, hoisted my bag onto my right shoulder and draped my jacket on my left, which was still quite tender and sore to the touch. "Thanks again for patching me up. I really do appreciate it. If you're ever near Kidder, Iowa, look me up. Maybe I can try to repay the favor then."

With that I started to make my exit. Dean once again tossed his empty into the trash and was headed to the bathroom, answering his cell phone as he closed the door. Sam offered a grin and nod of acknowledgement. I returned his grin with a soft smile of my own and opened the door, stepped out and ran full force into someone waiting on the other side.


	3. And the ocean feels like Mars

At the door, I turned my attention back to Sam, hoisted my bag onto my right shoulder and draped my jacket on my left, which was still quite tender and sore to the touch. "Thanks again for patching me up. I really do appreciate it. If you're ever near Kidder, Iowa, look me up. Maybe I can try to repay the favor then."

With that I started to make my exit. Dean once again tossed his empty into the trash and was headed to the bathroom, answering his cell phone as he closed the door. Sam offered a grin and nod of acknowledgement. I returned his grin with a soft smile of my own and opened the door, stepped out and ran full force into someone waiting on the other side.

"OOMPH!" I said as I ran into the human wall. I found myself face first into the solid chest of a man in a dark suit and tie covered in a tan trench coat.

"Oh geez! Sorry! I didn't see you there," I said before taking a step back. As I held the door open for him to step into the room, I subconsciously came to the conclusion that he was a friend of the Winchesters. Demons don't usually knock before they kill you.

"Hey Cas," Sam said with a warm and friendly tone. "Dean! Cas finally figured out how to use the door!"

"I'm sorry I startled you, Adelaide," the new comer said in a low, husky tone.

"Hey, no worries. I should have been watching where I was going… Wait!? How…? How'd you know my name?!" I asked with the utmost quizzical tone. Intrigued by the new arrival. I set my bag down, letting the door close under the inertia of its own weight.

"Wait! Before he answers," Sam said, leading me to Dean's vacant seat at the table. "Take a seat and finish your beer."

I took the quarter full beer bottle that he had retrieved from the nightstand and finished it in one last, long swallow. I looked back and forth between Sam and the rumpled newcomer with curious eyes.

"Ok, go ahead."

The mystery man cocked his head to the side with a look of fascination during Sam's attempt to get me settled comfortably before the introductions could be completed.

"Adelaide. My name is Castiel. I am an …"

"She's still here?!" Dean said with a surprised tone.

"Yeah. Uh… Castiel, right? He, uh, kinda blocked my exit and Sam seemed to think that I should be seated for the introductions."

Sam once again passed me the ice pack to hinder any further swelling of my black eye.

Castiel cleared his throat before he continued. "As I was saying," he turned towards me, looking intently with his ice blue eyes into my own, forcing my undivided attention. "My name is Castiel. I am an angel of the Lord. This is how I know that your name is Adelaide Jones."

"Oh." I managed to say after a few seconds. Dean chuckled from the kitchen, starting on his third beer from the fridge. I absentmindedly fiddled with one of the new rips in the thigh of my right jean leg and timidly questioned with a pathetic sounding squeak in my voice, "So… uh… I guess… umm… I guess we have you to thank for Dean then?"

Sam's eyes bugged out as he held his breath. Dean nearly choked before being able to spit out a mouthful of beer into the sink. I turned my head towards him, somewhat worried he might actually choke. Castiel followed my gaze, eyes narrowing as if he didn't understand Dean's reaction to my question.

After refocusing his gaze on me, the angel smiled softly and politely replied, "As a matter of fact, yes. Yes, you do, Adelaide."

"Oh." I just stared at him, our eyes unwittingly locked in a staring contest that neither of us meant to start.

"So, Cas!" Dean called out from his spot in the kitchen. "You just here to gawk at Laide, or did you have another reason for dropping by?"

That got my attention, so I turned my head and glared at Dean, annoyed at his insistence to use the stupid pet names that he came up with for me. Even though it had been 12 years since I last heard them come from his mouth, they still made my blood boil.

"On second thought, Castiel, I take it back. I don't think the word 'thankful' is the right one for how I feel about having Dean Winchester back in my life," I said with a sneer, still glaring at the eldest brother.

"Saved your ass," he said with a mutter behind the neck of his Budweiser before taking a long drink.

"Pretty sure Sam helped you with that one mate. Now HIM," I said while pointing at Sam. "HIM I'd like to that you for Castiel." I tried to joke in the angel's direction, but it still came out sounding very cruel.

"But, I have nothing to do with Sam being here," Castiel replied sounding truly bewildered.

"Don't worry about it, Cas," Dean chuckled sardonically before patting the confused angel on the right shoulder and taking a seat on the bed the furthest away from the table. The bed that had played the part of a makeshift hospital gurney was now between himself and I. "That's just Laide's way of saying 'Fuck you very much. Wish you were still in Hell' to me. Isn't that right, Laide?"

"Well… uh…" I replied sheepishly. _So he really did go to Hell to bring Sam back._ I swallowed hard again before I continued. "Actually, you stuck in Death Valley without any water would be just fine. Uh…you know instead of THE actual hell and all." _Still know how to make me feel like a worthless piece of shit, don't you? And here I thought…_

"So the real reason you're here, Cas?" Sam asked with an imploring tone. He was yet again attempting to cut the tension in the room that Dean and I created oh so easily.

"Right," Castiel said sounding like he was actually having to regroup his thoughts. "I am here because I have found some signs and omens that could most likely be the precursor to a ritual that Lucifer might perform before ushering in the next phase of the Apocalypse."

I sat in my chair absolutely stunned and shook my head in utter disbelief. _So... all the whispers and rumors were true. Lucifer had broken out of Hell and the Winchesters had something to do with it all._

"Okay. Where are these omens, Cas? And PLEASE tell me they can wait long enough for us to get some shut eye," Dean said from his bed, rolling over so that his back was now facing the rest of us.

Sam just rolled his eyes and shot me an apologetic smile with a slight shake of his head. Although I appreciated the gesture, I knew Dean well enough to know that he'd always say the first thing that popped into his head. In my opinion, Sam didn't have to apologize for his brother being such a jackass. So I just smiled and shook my head, hoping he understood that I had no need or desire for his apology. Dean was Dean and sometimes it wasn't so comforting to see that some things, or people in this case, don't change.

"The omens have started to appear in a small town in Eastern Iowa. If I recall correctly the town is called 'Kidder'. There is nothing more there than a vast amount of corn fields, so I have not quite figured out why the ritual would be taking place there."

At the end of this explanation, Dean shot straight up on the bed and turned back to face the group of us at the small dining table.

"Kidder?!" Dean and I asked at the same time. This earned a surprised look from both Sam and Cas.

"Are you sure?!" I continued with panic seeping into my tone.

"Yes," Castiel answered stepping closer to me. "It appears that the ritual will take place in your hometown Adelaide."


	4. And the acid feels like rain

"Well then. I guess we should hit the road," Dean said, hopping off the bed to move around the room to start collecting his belongings from where they seemed to have landed haphazardly on the floor during his stay.

I just remained in the chair, beyond stunned. I wasn't sure what had caught me more off guard just a moment ago; Castiel telling us that Lucifer was stirring the pot in my quiet hamlet or the fact that Dean was so quick to prepare to get there.

Castiel flashed a sympathetic eye in my direction before he said, "No, Dean you were right. Your travels can wait until you all have had a good night's rest. At this point in time, nothing is definite in Kidder. What I have seen are just the beginnings signs of what may come. I just wanted to alert you to the new trouble. I will contact you once I know more and have some specific details for you."

And, with that, he disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"I guess I'll be heading out now then. Look me up once you get to Kidder," I said after a minute of silence. I picked up my bag once again, but this time I did it with shaking hands. This betrayed my calm demeanor I was trying to put forth, but I didn't have the mental capacity to care that my fear was showing to anyone that might be in the room.

"Yeah…whatever," Dean said with a grunt before he returned to his sleeping position on the bed.

"Why don't you stay and rest here?" Sam asked, placing my bag on the chair that I had just vacated. "You take the bed and I'll crash on the couch."

"No, that's okay, Sam," I said while pointing to my back. "I won't be getting much sleep anyway. I'll take the couch. Thank you, though. You're very sweet to offer."

I laid my jacket over my bag and stumble dazedly to the couch close to the kitchen and flopped. Before I knew it, I was sound asleep.

**_"But Dean… it's been six months. You said you would visit," I said with a whine on the phone as my 17 year old self. "I miss you SO much! You said you would be here 2 weeks ago! Please, please, please... can't you sneak away just for a little bit? Just a short little visit, that's not that big a deal, right?"_ **

**_"I can't… I'm sorry. This job is gonna keep me tied up for a while… I don't even know when I'll be able to call you again, Adelaide."_ **

**_My heart sank… he used my full name. He's NEVER used my full name in all the years that we had known each other._ **

**_"Oh… Oh… That's okay Dean… Just… just forget about it. You don't owe me an explanation. Consider everything forgotten," I said trying to sound as indifferent as I could even though I was feeling like my heart was breaking while my world was crashing down all around me._ **

**_"Lay… please don't say that. Lay, it's just my dad… this job…"_ **

**_"Whatever Dean!" I said, interrupting him before I slammed the phone down._ **

**_I laid down on my bed, refusing to allow any tears to fall. Gripping my pillow tight to my body, I flipped the mix cd playing in my stereo from "our song" to 'Tub Thumping' by Chumba Wamba._ **

I woke up from the dream with tears sliding down my face and dripping off my chin. I wiped my eyes with the bottom of my oversized tee, temporarily forgetting the swelling damage on my left eye. _Dammit!_ I thought to myself as I rubbed my throbbing shiner harder than I should have. Since it was still quite dark in the room I figured I hadn't slept long because I didn't feel like I had rested at all. I tried to make it to the bathroom without waking either brother, not noticing that it was already occupied.

While I was trying to rub the sleep away from my eyes, I arrived at the door just as it was opening. "Oh!" I said as quietly as possible as I ran squarely into Dean's torso. "Sorry!"

"No problem," Dean said as he gingerly lifted my chin with his right hand. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just hit my eye when I woke up and it made me tear up. Really it's no big deal. I think I have some painkillers in my bag," I said as I gently removed my chin from his hand.

"Need any help? I could… " He asked me tenderly.

"No, I got it… thanks," I interrupted as I quietly closed the door.

"Yeah, no problem," he said, sounding defeated.

I allowed the silent tears to flow as I ran the cold water into the sink. _And here I thought I was over all that crap. DAMN IT!_ I said to myself. This time, while I thought to myself, I let the old feelings surface, but I soon pushed them back in my mind. I dipped the face cloth into the pool of ice cold water and placed it on my ugly eye. Balancing the face cloth on my face, I started to look through my makeup bag for the Extra Strength Motrin. Finally finding the bottle, I tipped four pills in the palm of my hand and swallowed them with a handful of water to aid them easily down my throat.

Removing the face cloth, I again turned my attention to my eye. The swelling had gone down quite a bit. At least now I could see the bloodshot eyeball that found its home between the emerging purple below the eye and on the lid.

"Awesome," I sighed out as a sob tried to escape through my lips.

After placing the face cloth on the side of sink, I released the plug and the water flowed down the drain. I then eased my way out of the room, finally making it through a door frame without running into another body. Once I made it to the couch, I sprawled out on my stomach and folded my arms under my pillow. Again I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the near non-existent pillow.

_" **Adia I do. I failed you Adia, I know I let you down. Don't you know, I tried so hard to love you in my way. It's easy letting go…"**_

_**Before long, my mother knocked on my door which stopped me from singing along. "Addy? Honey?"** _

_**I opened the door and said, "Sorry Mum! I'll turn it down! I didn't know you and dad were home."  
** _

_" **It's okay sweetie. It could be much worse," she said with a smile. I think she meant more the song choice, not the volume. "You have a call." She passed me the phone with a bright smile still in her eyes. Once I took it from her hand, she turned and walked away.**_

_" **Allô!" I said cheerfully while turning down the volume of the stereo until it was barely audible.**_

_" **Lay?" The voice tentatively asked.**_

_**My smile immediately disappeared.** _

_" **What do YOU want?" I said with a hiss, quickly closing my bedroom door so that my Mum wouldn't accidentally overhear any portion of this conversation.**_

_" **Lay… I really need to explain what happened…"**_

_" **Like I told you  before Dean, it's forgotten. I don't WANT your excuses."**_

_" **Lay! Please! It's… I… your dad..."**_

_" **Whatever Dean!" I said before I slammed the phone down.**_

_**This time my eyes betrayed me and the tears began to flow. That call was just too much. I needed out. I threw some things together into my granddad's old army bag and hastily wrote a note with a brief explanation for my running away. I told my Mum that I loved her, but that I need some time to think. I hoped she understood and I'd be in touch soon.** _

_**With that done, I turned up my stereo so my parents would think that I was still in my room and slipped out the back door and made my way down our driveway as quickly as my feet could take me.** _

When I woke up this time, the sun was peaking through the motel curtains. My cheeks were again drenched by tears. I wiped them, very carefully this time, with the bottom of my shirt and sniffled, ensuring my back remained turned to the boys' bed to keep them from seeing and hopefully hearing my distress.

"Everything okay?" Dean asked me with a tender tone.

_Damn, the sniffle must have given me away._ "Yeah. I'm fine…"

"Right. You hit your eye when you woke up and that caused them to tear up," he said with the utmost sarcasm.

Not wanting to start the day off in a heated argument with the almighty Dean Winchester, I whispered to myself, "Whatever Dean."

Then in a more careful, neutral tone, trying to change the mood, I asked, "What time is it anyway?"

"7:30 in the AM. Sammy's gone to get breakfast. Our car's almost packed. Then we can head out."

"Okay. I'm just gonna quickly wash my face and change," I said even more civilly. I avoided looking at him, knowing my tear soaked, blood shot eyes would yet again portray my true feelings as I made my way to the bathroom.

I almost made it there scot-free when I felt a gentle touch on my left arm. "Sammy just left. You probably have time for a quick shower if you want. I snagged some fresh towels for you." The tone of his voice caused me to sneak a quick peak at his face and I noticed that he too was avoiding eye contact with me.

"Thanks," I managed to say with my eyes securely fixed on the dingy carpet under our feet.

Showering that morning was kind of tricky. The normally comforting hot water burned as it hit all the nicks and scrapes I acquired the night before. The wonderfully coconut scented shampoo smelled fantastic, but it stung every inch of my back as it made its way from my mid-back length hair to the drain. I was just thankful that my scalp remained unscathed from the broken glass because there was no way I would have been able to clean my hair if there had been any scraps on that skin.

After drying off, I pulled on fresh pair of jeans and applied a small amount of make up (I would work on a proper cover up job on the shiner once I got closer to home). Before long, I fastened my white bra covered in tiny light pink hearts, then looked for my shirt. I suddenly realized that in my haste to get to the bathroom without Dean seeing me all teary eyed that I forgot to grab a shirt and bring it in with me.

"SHIT!" I said a lot louder than I intended.

Almost immediately I heard Dean ask, "What's wrong Addy!?"

Peeking just my head out around the door so that Dean couldn't see my partially nude torso, I said bashfully, "I… uh… I kinda forgot to bring a full wardrobe in with me. Would you mind bringing me my shirt?"

Dean snickered while he said, "So yesterday you had no problem walking around in just your bra, but now you're shy? I've seen you in less, you know. You really don't have to pretend to be so shy with me."

"Yeah, well that was different… on both counts. Please, just pass me the top on the chair over there?"

"Sure," he said with a smile and a soft shake of his head. "Here you go."

I closed the door, swiftly slipped it on and laughed quietly to myself. _Dean's gonna LOVE this._

I finally emerged from the tiny room with my hands in a gesture of "I surrender" and said (well, actually pleaded), "In my defense…Toby gave this to me. And since I'm heading home, I thought I'd wear it so he didn't think I hated it."

And with that I stopped dead in my tracks because Dean was shaking so much from holding in the laughter.

"Just let it out," I said with a sigh.

"I'm sorry… but are you serious? That's the shirt you picked out for the day?" Dean managed to ask between fits of laughter.

"Shuddup," I said, but I couldn't help but giggle as I threw on a gray hoody over my "I <3 Boys Who Sparkle" T-shirt. "Stop it, Dean!" I chuckled while zipping the hoody closed. I then walked up to him and playfully punched him in the arm because he still hadn't silenced his laughter.

While I was still trying to get him to stop, Sam walked into the room. With coffee in one hand and a box of pastries in the other, he raised a questioning eyebrow. Seeing the two of us doubled over in laughter together seemed to throw him off, "What'd I miss?" he asked, chuckling uncomfortably. He was probably praying that he wasn't the butt of whatever the joke had put Dean and I into hysterics.

"She's… she's… she's wearing a… a… a friggin' Twilight T-shirt!" Dean said as he gasped for breath.

"What? Really?! Even with everything that happened last night?"

"Yes," I said while catching my breath. "But… in my… defense… Toby gave it to me."

"Oh," Sam said, seeming to accept that logic with more grace than his brother had.

Our hysterical laughter soon sub-sided enough for us to eat the muffins Sam had bought. The route to Kidder was fairly straight forward and after a short planning session around a map laid out on one of the beds we were on our way.

"I've gotta gas up before we hit Highway 20," I said as I tossed my bag in the trunk of my car.

"Yeah no problem. You still up for meeting in Freeport for lunch? Oh! You've got our numbers, right?!" Sam confirmed.

"Absolutely! See you in Freeport!"


	5. If a broken heart is broken

Thankfully the roads were quiet and the skies were clear, making the drive to Freeport relatively smooth. About 5 miles from our destination I felt the vibration of my cell phone. Just before the soothing tones of Trapt's "Head Strong" could begin, I picked up my cell asking, "What's up?"

 _"I saw a sign saying there's a Shari's at the next exit. Hungry?"_ Sam questioned.

"Starved. See you in five!"

I pulled up with ease beside Dean's cherished '67 Impala just as he and Sam were getting out. I popped the trunk of my GTO because I needed to grab the makeup kit out of my bag. My thought was that this would be as good of time as any to attempt to properly cover up Jax's handiwork.

After we were seated at the table, I excused myself to head to the ladies' room. Before I left, I said, "Okay guys, sorry… but I think these grannies might beat one or both of you if I don't get this covered up quickly."

I was more than annoyed at this point by all of the sneers and dirty looks the three of us received from the elderly couples that littered the restaurant on our path to the booth. I knew that Dean and Sam were silently being blamed for the misdeeds of another, which created a ball of guilt in my stomach. If I didn't clear it up, there was no way that I would be able to eat and my body had suffered enough malnourishment over the past four and a half days.

Once in the rest room, I started to lay out the various concealers and powders that I had grown accustom to using since I was 15. I had learned early on in my career that they were as important a tool as any gun or spell for a hunter (at least for us female hunters) and I honed my skills with all of them over the past 14 years.

"Well, at least the swelling has gone down," I quietly said to my reflection with a sigh.

"You know Sweetie… any man that can do that to you doesn't really love you, no matter how much he professes that he does," a voice behind me said before disappearing into a stall.

"Thank you for your concern ma'am, but this isn't the handiwork of a supposed loved one. I was attacked last night and luckily my friends were there to save me," I said as I started to work on my eye with one of my liquid concealers.

Moments later I heard the same voice. "That's a cute sorry, darling," said the silver haired, 75 year old in a purple floral patterned sweater and long grey wool skirt while washing her hands. "But no girl can cover up a black eye that skillfully and well without a lot of practice."

And with that I once again found myself alone in the white and pink tiled room. This time, when I check myself out in the mirror, my reflection resembled much more closely to the woman I was used to seeing.

"Huh," I said with a laugh and a shrug. "The old bitty has a point. If she only knew…"

When I returned to the table, I wasn't surprised to find that Dean was already devouring a bacon cheeseburger and fries. Sam in the mean time was calmly stabbing at a fresh cob salad. I shook my head thinking to myself, _Should have known Dean wouldn't be able to wait._ Then my jaw almost dropped to the ground when I saw a BLT on whole wheat with a cup of Minestrone soup, untouched, waiting at my place at the table.

"Hope that's okay. Dean ordered it for you."

Overwhelmed at the thoughtfulness, tears attempted to well up in my eyes.

"Uh… yeah, it's perfect." I said just barely over a whisper in the hopes that I could hide my feelings for them.

Sam just smiled in reply and continued working on his salad.

Our lunch passed quickly and our conversation remained reasonably civil and light-hearted. Then we were back on the road, en route to my home.

 _Damnedable Winchester_ , I thought to myself as Styxx "Renegade" started on my car stereo. _Why can't I just hate you? I mean, that WOULD make my life so much easier. Why do you have to have such genuine moments of sweetness?_

As I was lost in my thoughts, I barely noticed that there was someone now sitting in my passenger seat. Catching a glimpse of the intruder with the corner of my good eye, I reached for my chrome plated Colt 1911, 9mm that I keep in the driver's side door for this type of occasion. I turned my head and abruptly stopped myself from whipping my left arm up to point the firearm at their temple. As I avoided blowing the person away, I nearly screamed, "Holy shit! Castiel!"

"Geez…are you trying to kill me?" I asked, replacing my gun in its hiding place. Needless to say, I was surprised I managed to keep from crashing my most cherished possession while being given the fright of a lifetime.

"No, Adelaide. I do not wish you any harm," Castiel said in an unnervingly even tone. "I especially would not want to be the cause of your death. Dean tells me that I have a 'knack' for startling people upon my arrival. Please accept my sincerest apologies if that is how I have made you feel."

"That's fine, Cas. Just next time could you try to pop in when my beautiful beast isn't in motion?" I said while caressing the steering wheel.

"Again, I apologize. Unfortunately I couldn't wait as I have something urgent to discuss with you in regards to Tobias Connor."

"What? About Toby?!" I asked as my heart jumped into my throat. I started to feel what I thought was a panic attack coming on. "Is he hurt? Did something happen to him at school? On the farm?! To his team? Cas! Answer me damn it!"

Castiel tilted his head regarding my reaction with a face of confusion. "No harm has come to Tobias. Are you alright?"

I was completely hyperventilating now. Taking a few deep breaths, I tried to calm myself while gripping the steering wheel tightly. "Okay, Castiel… tact buddy… tact. Remind me to tell the boys that you are severely lacking in tact so they can teach you some. I swear!" _God, is that what a heart attack feels like?_

"No, usually an episode of cardiac arrest is accompanied by shortness of breath and pain radiating through the left arm. In addition I can tell that your heart is in good health and has not faltered in any way recently," he said peacefully while staring at the taillights of the Impala in front of us.

"And you read minds," I said (more to myself than to him). That was some information that I would be storing in the back of my memory bank for future consideration.

"Yes. I'm sorry. I did not mean to intrude."

"No worries mate. So... if Toblerone is fine, why do you want to talk about him?"

"Toblerone? No, I do not want to talk with you about chocolate," he said with a truly befuddled tone.

I couldn't help but laugh a little bit out loud. "No, Castiel, it's just a pet name for him. You know, kind of like how Sam and Dean call you 'Cas'?"

"Oh," he said, sounding as if the concept of a nickname still eluded him. But he didn't let this minor set back discourage his quest to interrogate me about the young boy. "Why did you not tell Dean and Sam the truth about young Tobias?"

"What?" I said while trying to laugh it off. "What do you mean, 'the truth'? I answered Sam's question and they both seemed fine with what I told them."

"You know as well as I do that he is neither your cousin, nor your brother."

"Well, yeah. Not technically. But…"

"Why did you not inform them that he is your son?" He finally asked bluntly, obviously annoyed at my attempts to avoid the truth.

"How did…? What the…? Who gave you the…? Sheight!" _BUSTED!_ "Because it's complicated. The only living people that know that information are my Uncle Bill and Auntie Mo. He's been their son since day one, so really isn't my place to go around and just tell people that I was the one who gave birth to him."

I stole a glance of his face as I drove, his eyes looked sad with confusion. I sighed then continue my defense of concealing the truth. "Look Cas, being someone's parent is much more than just biology… TRUST ME. And like I said, this situation… with me and the Connors, it's… it's complicated. But believe me when I say to you that Maureen Connor is Tobias Jonathan Connor's true mother, not me."

There was a moment of silence while he scrutinized the explanation that I had just given him. Inwardly I pleaded with anyone that might be of help for him to understand and for him to just let the subject drop.

His eyes remained fixed on the road ahead when he said, "I do not understand how that statement can be considered true."

_**Back off I'll take you on Headstrong I'll take on anyone…** _

"Hey Sam! What's up?" I said into my phone swiftly, more than grateful for the distraction for the awkward conversation I was having with my passenger.

_"Dean's complaining that he's hungry."_

_"I mentioned it ONCE!"_ Dean could be heard trying to defend himself in the background.

_"We heard on the radio that there's a tie up on where Highways 20 and 84 meet and he started moaning that we could get stuck in a traffic jam before we get a chance to have a proper dinner."_

I looked down at the clock and noticed that it was closing in on 5pm. Time sure did fly while I was talking with the rumpled angel friend of the Winchesters.

_"We were thinking that we could stop at the next restaurant or diner that's on the way. Sound good?"_

"Yeah, sure. Whatever," I replied absentmindedly. At this point in time I would have agreed to just about anything, so long as it meant that I didn't have to continue on with the conversation that I was having with Castiel. I was also feeling so distracted that I didn't really want to be behind the wheel of my beloved car for fear that my absentmindedness might cause me to do something unfortunate.

 _"You okay?"_ Sam asked shifting to look out the back window of the Impala. Unfortunately, while talking to Castiel I had slowed down to such an extent that he could barely see the perfect chrome grill of my GTO.

His concern thrust me out of my daze. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just let me know which one you guys choose, okay? I'll meet you there."

_"Okay, see you soon."_

"She game?" Dean asked his brother eagerly.

"Yeah. She said to choose whatever place we want and let her know so she can meet us there."

"Awesome!"

After putting the phone down, I became even more determined to put the awkward conversation I was having with Castiel to an end.

"Okay, Mr. Angel. You don't seem to the whole nature versus nurture debate. That's fine… Whatever. Why is it so frigging important that I tell the Winchesters that I'm Toby's biological mother?"

"It is important, Adelaide, because he makes you vulnerable," he said with a flat tone. "It is only fair that Sam and Dean be properly prepared to deal this weakness if you are going to be working so closely together."

"Vulnerable? Look buddy, I can control my emotions, okay?"

"No, you can not when it comes to Tobias," Castiel asked, maintaining the neutral tone. "Your reaction to my question about him is proof of this."

_Dammit! He's right._

Castiel cocked his right eyebrow. He looked at him and raised my eyebrow at him with an I-am-not-amused look.

_Did you just give me the 'I told you so' stare?_

He gently nodded with a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Finally admitting my defeat, I heaved a sigh before I said, "Fine. But…" I grabbed his left hand with my right, "Will you… ? Will you be there when I do tell them? I might need backup, you know?"

"Yes, of course I will stand beside you Adelaide while you deliver the news."

"So any advice on how I should do it? Like should I just blurt it out or should I ease them in…"

Sensing that I was rambling because I wanted nothing more than to postpone having to tell anyone outside of my family the Toby's maternity, Castiel said politely, "Just take your time. The words will come to you. Be not afraid."

"But…" _**Back off I'll take you…**_ "Hey Sam."

_"There's a diner just up on the right. Still hungry?"_

_NO! It's more like I feel like I'm going to hurl!_ "Yeah, of course!"

"Okay, see ya in a bit!"

Again I found myself following the black beauty into a parking lot. Before I got out, I said a silent prayer, begging God to help me get through the conversation that I have been dreading for longer than I cared to admit. As I said my silent "Amen", I felt a reassuring squeeze on my hand and one stray tear made its way down my cheek. I looked up into Castiel's steadfast eyes as he said, "Ask and you will be given. I believe in you Adelaide. You are strong and more than capable to complete this task. You just have to have faith in yourself, you will find the words."

"Thanks Cas. I'm glad one of us is confident in my abilities."

Wiping the tear from my cheek, I pushed the car door open. I felt like a thousand pound weight had been placed on my shoulders since Castiel had convinced me to tell Sam and Dean the truth. As I got out, I looked up and saw a familiar figure standing there, who took my hand while shutting my door. "Adelaide, you will fee lighter once the truth is declared," he said with reassurance.

"Yeah… sure… This still sucks ass though."


	6. Then how can it still feel pain?

When we got inside the diner, Dean was looking very antsy because his meal was predetermined and he was more than ready to order. Meanwhile, Sam was calmly looking over the menu trying to decide what he would be having for lunch. Once Castiel and I walked in, both of their mouths dropped because we were walking hand in hand. Realizing the cause of their slack jawed looks, I quickly released my death grip on Castiel's hand and promptly cracked all the knuckles of both hands before shoving my fists into the pockets of my hoody.

_Come on Addy, you can do this. So you tell Sam and Dean that you had a baby. Big deal. Quit being such a girl._

I quickly slipped into the booth, nearly colliding with Dean's right hip as Castiel took a seat next to me.

"So you and Cas are pretty chummy, huh?" Dean asked with a snarl while shoving a menu vaguely in my direction.

"It's not like that Dean…"

"Whatever, Adelaide," he said with an angry bite.

"And what can I get for y'all today?" Asked our bubbly middle aged waitress.

"Chicken garden salad, Italian on the side and a coke, please," Sam said.

"Bacon cheese burger, extra onions, apple pie and a bottle of Bud Light," Dean said.

_Extra onions and pie! Shit! He's mad. But wait… why is HE mad?_

"Miss? Miss... What would you like?"

"Adelaide," Castiel said to me while I was staring at Dean deep in thought. Finally I snapped out of it. "Huh? What?"

"What would you like, Addy?" Sam asked.

"Oh… uh… Sorry. Just a strawberry shake, please. Thanks."

"Not hungry?" Dean asked, while furrowing his brow.

I swallowed hard and said quietly, "Not really. Look guys, we need to talk…" I started as the stout blonde made her way back to the kitchen with our orders. I looked to Castiel for reassurance and he gave me a supportive nod. "There's something you need to know about Toby."

"Your neighbors' kid?" Dean asked with a snap. "What about him?"

"Well…" Our drinks arrived and Dean took a long swig of his beer.

"Well… he's not really my cousin…" I said while staring at my hands that I was wringing in my lap.

"Yeah, we get that. Your neighbors are 'like' your aunt and uncle, hence the not really being your cousin," Sam said, attempting to lighten the mood.

"Right. Good logic Sam. So, here's the deal… My Auntie Mo always wanted kids, but when I was 16, we almost lost her after her fifth miscarriage…" I had to stop there because I could hear a quiver overtaking my tone that I wanted to silence before I continued.

"I remember that. Dad and I took over a possession case for your parents because your mom got a call…" Dean said, trailing off from completing the thought as he saw the silent tears streaming down my cheeks. I was still studying my hands where they were resting in my lap. "You missed three days of school sitting by her hospital bed."

I sniffed really hard. "Yeah. That's right." I confirmed as I felt Dean's hand squeeze my hand under the table and remain there as I said, "Well… A few years later, I… uh… I had a bit of a well… mishap… and… umm… after one thing led to another… uh, one thing led to another…" I stopped as I felt Dean's hand retreat quickly.

"Toby's yours?!" Sam asked with shock, connecting the dots. He saved me from having to actually having to say the words myself.

"Here you go boys. And are you sure you don't want anything else, honey?"

I shook my head as I said, "No, thank you."

The boys both said, "Thanks" simultaneously.

"Wow… you had a kid," Sam said while he was starting to dig into his salad.

Again I swallowed hard and took a deep breath. I looked to my right for more encouragement, but my heart sank. _How did I miss Castiel leaving?_ While I was stunned, neither Winchester seemed phased by the angel's swift exit.

"You had a kid?" Dean asked, scrunching his nose at his burger, looking at it as if it had turned rancid and sprouted maggots right before his eyes.

"Yes," I said in a whisper. "But, I was so young, there was no way I could raise him on my own. He was never meant to be mine; he was always supposed to be theirs." My voice got quieter as I spoke and I finally looked up and met Sam's beautifully sympathetic eyes. Dean was still staring at his burger, his jaw clenched in… was that hatred? Why did he look like the burger sitting on the plate in front of him had offended him to such a degree.

"Addy? When you say Toby wasn't 'meant' to be yours, what do you mean?" Sam asked cautiously in the hopes that he wouldn't attract the wrath he was watching mount on his brother's face.

I sighed, relieved that Sam was being so accepting and smiled to myself at the memory of the day I had my life altering revelation. Then I met Sam's eyes again because they seemed to give me more confidence, so I took a moment to gather my strength while holding his gaze.

After what felt like forever, I smiled warmly and said, "During my seventh month, I ended up at a convent. While I was there I befriended a senior nun who became my most precious confidant during that time and for the years that followed until her passing. To help me through everything, she had me start Bible studying with her… I know I never thought that studying the words in that book would help anyone, but it help her to start many uncomfortable conversations with me."

Sam nodded, while eating another mouthful. He appeared to be interested in the story, so I continued. "I was pretty depressed and was trying to figure out why so much crap had happened to me. I mean I hadn't even finished high school yet, how was I going to become an 'adult' adult? I really did feel quite hopeless. Then one day, Sister Mary Catherine bluntly asked me why a child was such a curse for me when so many people consider them to be such a blessing in their lives. Since I hadn't told her about the family business, I lied and said that I wasn't ready to raise a child because I was just barely an adult myself, you know? Her response was just a thought that she put out in front of both of us saying, 'It's too bad you don't know somebody that is ready to guide a new soul through this world.' Then she left me to my thoughts. I swear she almost sounded like it was the simplest answer on the planet and yet I still couldn't see how life as I knew it hadn't ended." I looked up to check that someone was still listening before I would carry on any further with my tale.

"Your Auntie Mo," Sam once again concluded correctly in an almost reverent tone.

I allowed myself to give him a relieved smile and nodded saying, "When I proposed the adoption to Maureen and Bill, they were extremely surprised and grateful. At first I thought that they might say no, but I know they felt it too… They were best choice to help guide this new soul into world. I then gave birth at the convent and Maureen and Bill were named as his parents on the birth certificate at my insistence. I felt that at that moment, their family was finally complete and only cried happy tears as I watched them leave with their baby in Mo's arms. After two days rest, I headed out to Pennsylvania to take care of a vengeful spirit and continued on with my life as normally as any of us can."

I attempted to take Dean's hand and was surprised when he didn't pull it away. I sighed out a breathe of relief silently and ran my thumb over his knuckles automatically in an effort to try to comfort him.

"I'm sorry I wasn't completely honest before," I said, more so to him than Sam.

"You had a baby…" he replied almost absentmindedly, still not looking at me.

"Yeah, Dean. I did. Uhhh… you know… it's kinda one of those things that can happen when you have sex."

After my comedic failure, he snatched his hands back and pushed Sam and nearly growling out a rage filled command of, "Move!"

Sam was swift to comply and Dean was quickly out the door, heading to the car.

"Sorry about him," Sam apologized with a tone that was both contrite and annoyed.

I sadly chuckled and said, "Please don't apologize, Sam. I should have known it would be fine for him to sleep around with any one he could fine, but that he'd be pissed if I ever brought up sleeping with another guy. SHIT! I hung out with nuns, I didn't fucking become one."

"Slept with ANOTHER guy? You mean you… and Dean?" He asked while gesturing from myself to the door then ran his right hand through his shaggy brown hair, completely dumbfounded.

_Shit! I thought he knew._ My cheeks burned red with embarrassment from my accidental confession. I swallowed then asked just barely over a whisper, "He didn't tell you?"

"No. But he must have really cared about you. He only seems to brag about the bimbos."

Before I knew it, he had slid deeper into the booth, wrapping me into a huge bear hug. His compassionate gesture overwhelmed me so much that I allowed all the anger and frustration that I had suppressed for so long to come out in the form of tears of relief into his shoulder. It was out there… I had a baby boy. Never in a million years did I think that I would be telling this tale to anyone, let alone a Winchester and yet I didn't feel any regret that I actually let the cat out of the bag.

"Umm can I get you anything else?" Our very confused waitress asked.

I tried to compose myself. I turned my torso away from her so that I was facing the back of the booth and then wiped my eyes and blew my nose into a napkin.

"No, thank you. The bill would be just fine," Sam replied trying to deflect her attention from focusing on me.

"Actually," I managed to say, despite the enormous lump in my throat. "Could you please wrap up the burger and pie to go?"

Sam beamed and nodded his head as the waitress ambled towards the kitchen with the two plates after dropping the bill on the table. "I didn't even think of that."

"You know as well as I do, once the shock wears off, he's gonna want pie," I said and then laughed quietly in an attempt to lighten the mood.

I notice some make-up smears on Sam's shirt and it dawned on me that my damaged eye would be showing again. "Crap! Sorry Sam," I said as I instinctively rubbed the spot on his shirt with the tips of my fingers of my right hand.

Sam gently took my hand and looked at his shirt and with a chuckle he said, "Merh, that's what stain removers are for." Then he smiled warmly, attempting to dismiss my concerns for the well being of his shirt.

"Oh God! I must look horrible!" I said quietly. Then I tried to find my wallet while saying, "Here let me get you…"

"Don't worry about it, I got it," he said with a wave of his hand. "Why don't you go get cleaned up?" He finished while handing me my make up bag.

As I slid out of the booth, I stared at it thinking, _I don't remember bringing this in with me._ Then something hit me… _THANK YOU Castiel_. I thought to myself as I smiled and looked up at the dingy tiled ceiling of the diner.

After a thorough scrub of my face and skillful reapplication of a couple of layers of make-up, I again felt and looked more like myself. I'll be damned if Castiel wasn't right… I did feel like a fifty pound weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Dean and Sam knew my deep, dark secret and Sam was thankfully still talking to me. I then walked towards the exit with more self-confidence and was met by Sam's dazzling smile.

We walked out together, went over the last details of the route and shared a quick hug before returning to our respective vehicles. Sam stopped in his tracks at the Impala, noticing a dark figure in his usual home of the passenger's seat. He then diverted around to the driver's side and eased his large frame behind the steering wheel, placing the paper "doggy bag" in Dean's lap. Dean, meanwhile, was looking out his window taking a long drink from a flask sized whiskey bottle.

"She really did love you, you idiot. Don't be mad at her for moving on. That's not fair. Don't you think that the image of you with another woman turns her stomach too?"

"Still doesn't change the fact that she lied about Toby being her son. She should have told us. That's probably one of the reasons why the demons chose Kidder to perform the ritual. Why wouldn't they want to fuck with a hunter and her family. BURAAP!" He said, completing his statement with a very loud burp.

"Oh my God! You're right. Do you think that she's thought of that? I mean other than Bobby who really has a home base anymore?"

Dean just shrugged as his head flopped back and he fell asleep with a low snore rumbling in the back of his throat. Sam sighed and shook his head marveling at the fact that Dean seemed to always keep his head in the game; even when he was being a total ass.

With one last low chuckle, he started the car and followed the taillights of my GTO to head towards what could possibly be the eye of the storm.


	7. You can take a broken heart

Our short intermission at the diner was perfectly timed because we managed to miss the back up on Highway 20 which meant that the last leg of our trip was met with absolutely no other interruptions. It was smooth sailing the rest of the way, in our vehicles at least. I decided that even with the late hour, I should stop at the Connor residence to check in. I hadn't been home in over six months and I knew my parents' house would be severely lacking in food and other supplies and it was much too late for me to stop anywhere to buy even the barest of essentials. There was no doubt in my mind that Aunt Maureen would be able to spare a few essentials until I was able to go to the grocery store in the morning.

"Hey Sam? Uncle Bill and Auntie Mo's place is just up the street. I was hoping to stop by and just say a quick 'Hi', before heading to my parents' place… uh… it's on the way," I said on the phone.

 _"Yeah, no problem. I can't wait to meet your family,"_ he replied a little too cheerfully for me to feel comfortable.

"So… umm… how's, uh, Dean?" I asked tentatively.

 _"He slept most of the way, so I think he's calmed down a bit,"_ he whispered in response most likely in an attempt to keep from waking Dean or having his brother overhear his end of the conversation.

 _"I'm fine,"_ Dean snarled, obviously annoyed that his brother and I had dared to talk about him.

"Okay. Their driveway is just up here on the right."

 _"Alright. See you in a bit."_ Sam finished by pressing the 'End Call' button on his phone. "Dean, please just remember that Toby and his parents have nothing to do with you being mad at Addy. Please don't take it out on them, okay? Can you please try to be civil while we meet the Connors."

"Seriously dude, I'm fine," Dean said in a calmer tone. "Any word from Cas yet?"

"No, nothing from him at all since he disappeared from the diner. And on the drive in I didn't see any storm clouds or anything else unusual in the area. I'm starting to wonder if his Intel may have been more than a little off."

"Or it's just the calm before the actual storm," Dean retorted as he turned to share a grave look of apprehension with his brother.

We pulled our vehicles up beside each other at the end of the unpaved driveway. I heard the doors of the Impala creak open, then thumped closed as Sam and Dean got out and stretched.

 _Please Lord, let this go smoothly._ I implored any entity in the Heavens that would listen. I then got out and met the brothers at the hood of their vehicle.

"So now that we're here, ready?" I said with a nervous smile, biting the right corner of my bottom lip. They both shrugged somewhat nonchalantly and then we all turned to make our way to the rear door of the beautiful blue, three story picturesque farmhouse with gray trim. Just before we reached the bottom of the stairs, the screen door flew open and a 5'4" preteen with black spiked hair came flying down the stairs, nearly knocking me over in a bear hug while he exclaimed, "AHHHHHHHHH-DDDDDEEEEEEEEEEE!"

"Oomph…hey Toby," I said, struggling to greet him, as he almost completely knocked the wind out of me. "How you doing, Buddy?"

"Oh my God, I missed you so much! How are you? Did you kill those nasty vampires? How long are you in town? You'll be at my game tomorrow, right? Who are those guys? Are they the ones that helped you out last night? Are they staying with you? Are YOU staying here? Your room's all ready you know! Are THEY staying here? It might be a little tight but I'm sure we could find the room… How long are you staying? You promised it would be for longer than last time, so it will be, right?" Toby asked rapidly without taking a breath.

"Tobias… give the girl a chance to breath," his mother said soothingly, from the top of the step, wiping her hands on a white apron over a simple blue dress.

I wrapped my right arm around his shoulders and mussed his hair with my left while saying, "Buddy, I'll answer all your questions once my brain has caught up to all of them, okay? First. Yes, these are the friends I told you about last night. The tall one here is Sam." Sam shook his hand. "And this is his brother, Dean." Dean extended a hand and was instantly transfixed by Toby's emerald green eyes. I could tell by the look on his face that he was utterly amazed that he was looking into the eyes of my child and could only silently pray that Toby wouldn't notice the look in the older man's eye.

"Why don't you invite them all in Tobias?" Maureen asked smiling at the group which easily shifted all of our focus onto her.

Grabbing my right arm, Toby excitedly exclaimed, "Oh yeah! I have something that I have got to show you Addy!" Completely ignoring the other two hunters' presence, Toby swiftly pulled me up the stairs to head into the house. I briefly hugged his mother with full knowledge that there was no stopping him until he showed me whatever it was that had him so overly excited.

"Hey Mo," I said and smiled apologetically as I leaned out of our hug.

"Hi sweetheart, it's good to see you. Don't look like that, we'll catch up in a bit. If you don't follow him soon, I think he might pop your shoulder out of the joint."

"Yeah… and he's gotten so strong lately, I think he might be able to do it too!" I chuckled. And with that Toby and I disappeared into the house.

Maureen then turned to the Winchester brothers with a gentle smile on her face and a playful laugh in her voice. "Sorry about Tobias. It's been a while since Adelaide has had a chance to visit and he is quite excited to see her. I've made a fresh pot of coffee, why don't you come on in and have a cup while the two of them have a quick catch up?" She invited them warmly.

They both nodded then made their way up the stairs. "Thank you. It's very nice to meet you Mrs. Connor," Sam said shaking her hand.

"Oh, please, call me Maureen…or Mo."

Sam just smiled softly and nodded in response before he continued to the kitchen table just to the right of the back door.

"It's good to see you again, Dean. You have been away too long young man," Maureen said to him with a tender smile and a hint of sadness in her eyes.

"It's good to see you too Mo," Dean said, hugging the 55 year old with a salt and pepper bun. "How's Bill doing?"

"He's doing well. He's been keeping busy with the crops. I'm sorry that he's already gone to bed, but he going to have an early start to the day tomorrow so that he doesn't fall behind again this season."

"That's no problem. I'll try to catch up with him tomorrow then," he said with a smile then joined his brother at the table. It was a quaint little booth nestled next to a large bay of windows that looked over their back yard where our cars were parked.

Maureen pulled out two matching handmade ceramic mugs with a grapevine motif, poured coffee into each and placed them in front of each of her guests. "Sugar's in the bowl there," she point to an antique clear glass dish with a lid in the center of the table. "Do either of you use cream?"

"No, thank you," they said in unison, shaking their heads.

Satisfied that the new comers were comfortable, Maureen turned and walked into the living room saying, "Excuse me, please. Tobias, be gentle with Adelaide. Remember, she had a rough night last night. Tobias did you hear me son?"

Once they were alone, Sam looked up at Dean and asked him meekly before he lifted his mug to his lips so that he could take a sip of coffee, "So you know Bill and Maureen?"

"Yeah. Like Lay said, they're sort of like her family. Dad and I got to know the two of them during our many visits with the Joneses. Maureen makes the best pumpkin pie on the planet." He smiled at the memory of the fresh pumpkin pie he used to enjoy at this very table.

Maureen and I returned to the kitchen and I found a seat beside Dean. I would have preferred to sit beside Sam, but his large frame didn't allow for a second person to sit on his side of the bench. Maureen place a third matching mug of coffee in front of me, cream already added to it.

"So what did he have to show you?" Sam asked quietly after a rather tense silence filled moment.

"I don't know. He ran up to his room to get whatever it is and then Mo led me back into here," I replied with a shrug, keeping my eyes locked on the coffee mug I was holding.

"Addy! ADDY! Check it out!" Toby called out from the door. He strutted into the room, puffing his chest out proudly while wearing a white baseball jersey with red piping along the seams with large stylized red letters saying "Red Birds" across his chest.

"Wow! Looks great, Buddy!" I whistled and praised. "Come here. Now for the most important part…" I turned him around so that I could get a good look at his back. "What's this?!" I cried out in mock horror. "Number 2?!" I scrunched my nose, pretending to be appalled and sickened by this revelation. "What? Did someone already take number 24? I could have a little chat with them for you if you needed me to. I mean the fact that they wouldn't just give it to you… I mean that's just wrong," I continued to tease.

"AD DEE," he whined. "I already told you, I wanna be like Derek Jeter, no that old fart you liked."

"Old fart?! Why I never!" I grabbed him into my lap and started to tickle him. "If you're going to play first base, you should be trying to be like Tino Martinez, not Derek Cheater!"

"Addy! Addy! Stop! Stop!" He said between gasps of laughter as I released him from my grip.

"Okay you two, that's enough. I think someone has to head to bed now," Maureen gently admonished the two of us. She then focused her attention on Toby announcing, "School tomorrow son."

"But mom!"

"Tobias," She said in an authoritative motherly tone.

"Fine," he huffed and came back to the table to give me a hug.

After a tight squeeze and kiss on the cheek, I whispered to him, "I'll see ya tomorrow at the ball park, okay? Good night, Buddy, sweet dreams. I love you."

"G'night Addy. I love you too. I'm glad you're finally home," he said holding me in another small hug. "Night Sam. Night Dean," he said almost sadly with a brief wave while he was being ushered to his room by his mother. I could tell that he didn't want to miss out on any of the fun he was sure we would be having in the kitchen without him even though I was sure that the fun times were actually following him out of the room.

The three of us sat, drinking our coffees in a the closest thing we had had as a silence since we had decided to work together. "He's so excited that you're home, Adelaide," Maureen said as she reentered the kitchen.

"I'm sorry I've been away so long," I said, getting up to place my now empty mug on the counter beside the sink.

"It's fine, sweetheart," Maureen said soothingly. Lightly touching my right arm, she continued as she pet it. "We understand that your work is important and keeps you on the road. I'm just glad you're home safe now. So, are you staying long?"

"I'll… we'll be staying for a few days, at least. Something has come up nearby, so we'll be working the case from here… at least for the next little while, but I honestly don't know for sure."

Maureen's brown eyes lit up at the prospect of my staying in town for more than a night and I could tell that she didn't actually hear everything that I had just said. She and Bill had numerous traps and precautions that I had put in place to ward off demons and spirits, but I didn't want to tell her the whole truth about the job that had brought me home until we knew exactly what we were dealing with. I didn't see the sense in alarming any of them unless we found some signs that she and her family might be in immediate danger.

"Umm…" I said timidly. "So Mo…  I uh… I haven't had a chance to go to the grocery store… do you think I could…?" I was trying to keep my voice low so that Sam and Dean wouldn't hear our conversation because suddenly I felt really embarrassed that I wasn't properly prepared to have company stay with me at my parents' house. If I was going to be absolutely honest with myself, I would have confessed that I hated the idea of entertaining without my Mum being around because she always managed to make anyone (from friend to complete stranger) feel like they were loved friends and family whenever they were in her home.

"Oh Adelaide Victoria Jones! You should know better!" She said loudly, obviously ignoring my apparent shyness about the subject. "When Toby told us you were heading home, I made sure your house was ready for you, just like I always have. Everything's been taken care of." She lowered her voice to just over a whisper to add, "I even snuck out and bought you some beer."

"Oh Mo!" I cried out happily as I scooped her up into a bear hug. "You HAVE to let me repay you."

"Adelaide. You know your money is no good to me! I still owe you, remember," she said with a wink.

"Thank you so much! Seriously Mo this is just… Thank you… I love you so much."

"I love you too sweetie,"she replied sounding slightly overwhelmed by my enthusiasm, but she still just smiled and hugged me lovingly none-the-less.

"Okay… well… I guess we should head out then. It's late and we should let you get some sleep. I would say I'm sorry I kept you up, but I'm not, I missed you guys so much so I needed to see you too. Oh and I'll call you tomorrow to get the details about Toby's game, okay?"

Maureen chuckled softly to herself because of my propensity to ramble when I was feeling nervous as she said, "That all sounds good honey. You three have a good night's sleep and then I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Thanks. You too," Sam and Dean once again said in unison.

After another amorous hug and affirmation of love, I made my way down the stairs behind the Winchesters en route to our vehicles.

"Do you remember the way?" I asked Dean meekly.

"Yes," he said quietly, getting into the driver's side. Before he could close his door, I grabbed it and passed him a single key on a miniature brown baseball bat key chain that the Connors' kept for just such an occasion. Dean took the key with a tight smile on his face and started the Impala.

"See you there," Sam said softly while he climbed into the passenger's seat with a tentative wave.

Dean arrived at the house first and he was starting to unload their bags with Sam when I finally pulled up. I went to my trunk to do the same as soon as I had my GTO parked. "Home sweet home," I said sadly to myself while looking up at the yellow three story farm house with white trim. Since I was a young girl it had always amazed me how much our house appeared to be an identical twin to the Connors' residence and for some reason I took comfort in that thought.

We made it through the back door and I led the two others to the main stairs in the living room that led to the second floor. "So… Bedrooms are upstairs." I announced before making my way up the stairs without making eye contact with either of them.

Once upstairs, I took a deep breath and looked at the open door at the end of the hall to what used to be my parent's master bedroom. I then finally raised my eyes up from my feet to their faces saying, "One of you can take that room. It has a king sized bed and a master bathroom attached to it with a Jacuzzi tub."

"You take it, Sammy," Dean offered automatically.

"Really?" Sam said as he quickly proceeded down the hall to the room before Dean could have a chance to change his mind.

"The guest room's right here," I said, pointing to the door immediately to the my left where I was standing facing Dean and the stairs. "Bathroom is across the hall and towels are in the closet there" I gestured to the closed door a few feet to the left of the guest room. "Umm… just let me know if you need anything."

"Thanks, Lay," he said quietly giving my arm a tight squeeze. "I remember the…  I… uhh… Sleep tight."

"G'night Dean."

We then quickly retreated to our respective rooms without another word spoken and got ready to go to sleep.

_" **YOU'RE WHAT?!" My dad cried out with an enraged growl that you would expect from a large, predatory animal that you had angered.  
**_

_" **Sydney, call down. Please Luv, just let her speak," my Mum said almost desperately, trying her best to keep the situation between my father and I from getting out of control.**_

_" **I'LL KILL HIM! I SWEAR I WILL! It was hard enough staying in the game when YOU were born! How the hell are we going to keep hunting now?" He asked with a bite in my direction and then he polished off his Jack Daniels neat and slammed the glass on the table causing me to jump fearfully in my spot.**_

_" **I'm so sorry daddy," I said before retreating up the stairs to my room with tears streaming down my cheeks.**_

_" **Syd, if you don't calm down, we could lose her," my Mum implored trying to be the voice of reason. "This isn't a fate worse than death so let's not lose her over this."  
**_

_" **Wouldn't be much of a loss," he mumbled just loud enough for his wife to hear him as he went into the kitchen to get a refill.**_

_**In response to his reply, my Mum just shook her head and then slowly made her way to my room. She of course just let herself in without knocking, but I was too upset with my father's angry statements to notice that I should be annoyed that she had just 'barged' into my room.  
** _

_" **Sweetie, he's just upset. I promise you, he didn't mean any of that," she said soothingly while rubbing my back as I lay on my bed on my stomach with my face buried in my pillows. "Roo, he's just… he's had too much to drink and that made him say things he didn't…"  
**_

_" **Yes he did mum," I interrupted as I rolled over onto my back to face her. Once I was facing her, I tried my best to sniffle back my tears in an attempt to compose myself. "He never wanted to have kids. He told me that a long time ago. He just wanted to go through life hunting… but only with you. He's always said that I got in the way of that in one way or another, you just ignored it because having a child causes you to lose sight of some things when you're a woman, but it doesn't for men."**_

_" **Sweetie…"**_

_* Two years later*_

_**SMASH** _

_" **If YOU weren't around, she'd still be here with me!"  
**_

_**I ducked as the glass Jack Daniels' bottle shattered on the living room wall just to my left.** _

_" **This is ALL your fault," he screamed drunkenly in my direction with b** **lood shot eyes and sweat forming on his brow. "She was as good as dead the day she had you** ** **… I knew we should have gotten rid of you the instant we found out you had spawned in her body**** ** _ **."**_  
**_

_" **Well don't worry SYDNEY, I was just here to pick up my stuff and then I'm gone! And not just on another hunt, I'm fucking gone for good! Now you'll be free to go ahead and drink yourself to death for all I care!" I screamed back at him defiantly as I hurried past him before he could throw something else at me or make a grab at my clothing to stop me.  
**_

_**Then I ran up to my room and stumbled over a couple of the steps on the way in my haste to get away from him. As soon as I made it to the safety of my room, I started to shove my clothes into my granddad's old canvas army issue duffle bag because what I had told my biological father was the truth; I was just there to gather the meager belongings I owned that I cared about and then I was going to leave… permanently. I honestly did not want to be around him anymore than he wanted to be in my presence right now, so I figured that that would keep me safe and help me to get this task done.  
** _

_**That was what I had figured, but you know what they say about the best laid plans _ **…**_** _

_" **Hurry the fuck up and then get the fuck out," he announced from the open door behind me. "I don't even want to look at your fucking face anymore."  
**_

_" **I'm going as fast as I can, Sydney so don't get your fucking panties in a knot."**_

_**THWAP!** _

_**I've pushed him before, but this time, I went too far. He back handed me across the left cheek as soon as I finished my last retort, then he grabbed my hair  into a tight ponytail and continued to punch me in the face over and over again.** _

_" **No! Please! Please, daddy! I'm sorry!" I screamed out uselessly. "Stop daddy! Stop _ **…**_ "**_

"Lay! Wake up! Wake up, Lay!" Dean cried out as he was shaking me awake.

"What? Dean? Where…?" I asked through the fog of  deep sleep.

"I heard you screaming. I thought… I got… I was worried ," he answered as he instinctively pulled me into a hug. He sat on my bed and smoothed my hair down my back as he continued to try to calm me. He then hesitantly asked, "Do you want to tell me about it?"

"No, not really…"

"Oh, okay." He stopped stroking my hair and moved to get up to leave, taking that response as my way of telling him to leave, taking it as my way of shutting him out.

I quickly grabbed his arm as he stood up which caused him to look back at me with a deep scowl evident on his moonlit face.

"But I will," I said with a little bit more confidence.

I sat up and shifted over under the covers so that he could rejoin me on my bed. He sat on top of the covers almost reluctantly, hands in his lap while I tugged at a stray string on my navy blue comforter that had pooled into my lap when I sat up.

"You know Sydney… err, my dad and I didn't really get along all that well, right?" I said slowly and Dean nodded while watching me intently. "Well…after my Mum was killed, things went down hill almost immediately"

I shifted my gaze from my hands to the blank wall in front of me as I robotically relayed, "To deal with the loss _ **…**_ To deal with losing his soul-mate, he started drinking heavily… like five 40s of Jack a day heavy… he…"

My voice quaked, but no tears were forming. I had promised myself a long time ago that I would shed no more tears for anything pertaining to the man who had sired me. I had let the notion of calling him my 'father' or 'dad' die with the hope that one day he would apologize for blaming me for my mum's death when he had used his fists to express his rage. Dean moved over on the mattress and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. I succumbed to his embrace and cuddled into his side by putting my right arm behind his back and sliding my left over his chiseled chest. Placing my head on the left side of his chest, I listened to his quickening heart beat and let its rhythm help to soothe my frayed nerves.

"He blamed me for absolutely everything that went wrong on that hunt. She died saving my life and he hated me even more because of that. After he beat me one day in a drunken rage, I left here and never looked back. I _ **…**_ I haven't had the stomach to spend a full night here in the last eight years because I was so afraid of running into him or those memories again."

"I didn't know," he admitted through a whisper, shifting my hair to kiss my forehead while rubbing my back. "He came on a few hunts with dad and me, but he just said you were doing your own thing when dad asked about you."

"Yeah… well… I was," I said and laughed lightly and pushed myself gently off his chest so that I could look into his eyes. "I delved deeper into the job to escape him and everything else that I had decided had gone completely wrong in my life. I always came back to Kidder though to visit Auntie Mo, Uncle Bill and Toby. But I would always stay at their house because I just couldn't face him by coming back here. I don't know if he ever knew that I visited them, but to be honest I didn't really care either back then.

"He and I never really got a chance to make amends between us _ **…**_ I even ignored his call when he was looking for help during the Rising of the Witnesses simply because the call had come from his phone. I, of course, raced home after I heard Bobby's message about what was actually happening, but I was too late." I picked at his t-shirt, avoiding his gaze because I felt so much undeniable guilt about my cowardice during that era of my life. Dean and I used to talk like this all the time when we were younger, but since that was so long ago I was feeling embarrassed by the vulnerability I was showing while I tried to confide in him as of old.

"It wasn't your fault… in either case," he finally announced to the room as a whole.

"I know… I know…" I furrowed my brow deep in a momentary thought. I really did know what he was saying was true, but I still felt some guilt because the job of a hunter was to save lives when we could and yet in this instance a life was lost because I had effectively ignored a desperate cry for help. "Anyway, that's the story behind the nightmare I was just having." I sighed and felt another ten pounds lighter. No one, well living that is, except for Maureen and Bill had been told by me that my father had once beaten me, so that was a weight I had been carrying since that day because I knew I couldn't tell other hunters about it. Their reaction would have either been over protective of myself or not believed that Sydney could be capable of something so heinous and either one of those responses would have effectively pissed me off.

I continued to fiddle with his shirt because I was unsure what I should do next and couldn't force myself to look at his face, let alone to meet his eyes.

"Thank you," he finally said with a quiver in his voice as he stilled my left hand with his own. As soon as his hand touched my own, my eyes shot up to his face.

_Oh God! He really does care. And here I worked to put up such a strong wall up between us._

"I'm so sorry that I've been such a bitch all these years, Dean. I was just so hurt when you never came back here _ **…**_ And for me, it _ **…**_ it was so much easier to be mad at you and pretend I hated you then to try to explain it all to anyone because it was just to weird too comprehend."

He held my left hand tightly and our eyes met as he said, "And I'm not always the easiest person to talk to either, Lay. I wish I could have been there for you; you shouldn't have had to deal with any of that crap with losing your mom and your dad being pissed on your own. I'm so sorry." He bowed his head and sighed deeply.

"It's not your fault, Dean. Bill and Mo helped me through all of it along with Sister Mary Catherine. I promise you that I wasn't alone, so please, please don't feel guilty? Okay?"

"Okay," he agreed sounding like he truly did agree with my statement instead of just placating me so that he could go back to sleep.

With that cleared up, I slipped deeper under the covers and placed my head on his chest. Dean shifted and got under the covers so that he was now lying down too. I traced circles on his stomach and he kissed the top of my head again saying, "Sweet dreams."

"You too Dean," I softly replied. Then we both fell silent and drifted off to sleep almost immediately.

" _ **I want to stand with you on a mountain I want to bathe with you in the sea I want to lay like this forever Until the sky falls down on me…"**_

_**Dean pulled himself up from the heated make out session in the back of the Impala, his bow tie discarded somewhere within the confines of the vehicle. With lust in his eyes, he started to carefully unzip me out of my long navy blue strapless stretch stain gown with silver beaded accents.** _

_" **Dean," I breathlessly panted, nearly frozen in my spot by the desire I felt for him.**_

_" **Shhh," he whispered as he stopped disrobing me. "It's okay, we can take it slower _ ** _ **…**_ I don't want to rush you _ **…**_ "**_**_

_" **No, it's not that," I looked down at his shirt coyly as I continued to undoing his buttons. "Do you have protection?"**_

_**He laughed then completed his previous task of getting me out of my dress and carefully placed it on the front passenger seat. He looked down at my nearly naked body, kissed my stomach before making his way up to my neck with a trail of kisses. With a nibble on my right earlobe he said, "Of course."** _

_**His mouth then found my own again and as our tongues played in each others mouths, I quickly liberated him from his pants. Slightly impress and surprised by the speed with which I had gotten him into his boxers, he smiled down and teased while cocking his right eyebrow, "Are you sure this is your first time?"** _

_**I could only giggle as a response.** _

_**He then removed my strapless black and blue lace bra and cupped my breasts in his hands. "You are so beautiful."** _

_**Slowly he suckled my right nipple, while his left fingers went to work playing with my left. At that moment in time I didn't think that I could be anymore aroused and I let out a soft moan of excitement. This seemed to help him to reach a comparable level of excitement, as I felt him hardening against my left leg without my having to touch him at all.** _

_**His lips made a path of kisses from my breast to the nape of my neck with his left hand discarded my matching lace panties on the floor of his beloved car. Then his fingers glided up my leg to my inner thigh, resting near the hot, wet center of passion. I started to moan louder as he moved his hand in a circular motion, checking to make sure that I was primed as he gently stroked the most sensitive of my pleasure points.** _

_" **Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked in my ear quietly, allowing me one more chance to back out.  
**_

_" **Yes… yes… more than anything!"**_

_**His boxers then came off quickly and he struggled with what I could only assume was a condom for a couple of seconds. Then, as he gently guided himself into me he sang along with 'our song.'** **"I'll love you more with every breath Truly Madly Deeply Do…"** _

_" **Ahh," I yelped softly because the penetration of my first time pinched ever so slightly. "I love you."**_

_**We easily found our rhythm as his mouth engulfed my own. At the moment of climax I couldn't help but cry out in pleasure deep into his mouth. He nuzzled his face into my hair, moaning loudly as he reached his own gratifying apex.** _

_" **I love you, Addy," he said firmly as he pushed my sweaty hair out of my face and gently kissed my lips.**_

_" **I love you too, Dean."**_

My eyes slowly opened to reveal my sun soaked bed room. Dean's chest was still acting as a makeshift pillow and I smiled to myself at the relief that he was still there, at the fact that the conversation we had last night wasn't just a beautiful hallucination or dream. His left arm was under my body and his hand had made its home under the waist band of my red and black flannel shorts, cupping my buttocks softly.

"That sounded like a much happier dream," he said with a grin while looking down at me, squeezing my tush lightly.

"Mmm hmm," I hummed out happily with a smile on my face, my head still against his chest.

He soon fell back asleep, quietly snoring as I untangled myself from his embrace. Once I was out of bed, I looked down and him and kissed his forehead. I couldn't help but stand there to just watch him because I had forgotten how peaceful he could look while he was sleeping and if half of what I had heard was true about what had happened to the Winchester brothers over the past few years, I knew that he more than deserved to have this moment of peace. After drinking my fill of his amazing body and serene face, I then grabbed my robe and made my way downstairs.


	8. And smash it through a windowpane

The coffee machine gurgled as it brewed a fresh pot of coffee and I made my way to the fridge to survey its contents. True to her word, Maureen had stocked it with everything that I could possibly want; she knew me too well. I smiled to myself as I pulled out a carton of eggs, a package of bacon, sausages, and the jug of milk. I balanced them all awkwardly in my arms as I made my way to the stove to start brunch for the three of us.

Sure enough, just as I slid the last of the scrambled eggs onto a serving plate, I heard someone say, "Mmm…something sure does smell good!"

"Welcome to the 'Hunters' B&B', Sam Winchester!" I said, lightheartedly, with an exaggerated bow. "Please fill up a plate and dig in." I motioned to the spread laid out on the island between the stove and the breakfast nook as I picked up my cup of coffee.

Sam made himself comfortable at the small (well small compare to him) table by a set of bay windows that looked out over my backyard. From his spot at the table he could see the beautiful, dark teak porch complete with a wrought iron outdoor dining set next to a Bar-B-Que pit. Just to the left of the deck was a hot tub that was connected to a beautifully serene swimming pool.

"Addy… your home is so beautiful," Sam said in awe, taking in the whole view while drinking his coffee.

"Thanks, my Poppy built this for my parents when he found out my mom was pregnant to make sure we'd have everything he thought a little girl would need."

"Mmm… when did you get all domestic?" Dean asked while walking into the kitchen, wiping the last of the sleep in his eyes. I smiled behind my coffee mug, still looking towards the backyard with Sam. I jumped a little when I felt his arms wrap around my waist as he kissed the left side of my neck.

"I got a little worried this morning when I woke up alone this morning. Everything okay?" he asked into my ear, keeping Sam from hearing in case I was uneasy with Sam knowing that Dean had spent a good portion of the night in my room.

I put my mug down, pivoted in his arms so that we were face to face, kissed his nose and said, "I'm great! I just thought you two would be hungry this morning. Thanks again for last night." My tone was much louder than his own, not caring if Sam heard the conversation or not.

With that, I kissed his cheek and slipped out of his embrace, walked towards the door and said, "I'm gonna hop in the shower, you guys make yourselves at home!"

Dean loaded up his plate, poured himself a coffee and planted himself across from his brother at the "breakfast nook".

"Things between you and Addy seem more… amicable this morning," Sam said while he crooked his left eyebrow up while taking a bite of hash browns.

"We had a chat last night and cleared the air a bit," Dean said before attacking his food.

"And?" Sam asked, thinking there would be more juicy details to follow.

"And what?"

"And, that's it? You just 'talked'?"

"Yes! Sammy, that's it! We JUST talked," Dean with a glare directed at his younger brother. He was frustrated that that Sam didn't believe that older brother was capable of being around a beautiful woman without immediately trying to get into her pants.

"Okay…okay," Sam said.

"Just eat your food."

My shower was much more pleasant this morning as the hot water did its job by softening most of the tension out of my stiff muscles. My abrasions that had burned yesterday under the stream from the shower head, had now scabbed over enough that they were no longer an issue. Wrapped in a fluffy black towel, I went to my room to check on the stitches that Sam had so skillfully sewn. Thankfully, they looked clean with no signs of infection or any new swelling.

Looking at my reflection in the vanity mirror, I heaved a defeated sigh and said, "I almost forgot about you" to the purple disfigurement under my left eye.

I got up and turned on the radio, confident that it would still be tuned to the adult contemporary station it was first tuned to when I got it for my 15th birthday. Finding myself back in front of the vanity mirror, I sat on the bench and started to absentmindedly hum along with the song playing while combing my hair, pulling it into a low ponytail at the base of my skull so my hair trailed down my back. Still humming and smiling contently, I pulled on a pair of faded blue jeans and a plain form fitting red v-neck t-shirt. I then applied a light layer of makeup, not worrying about covering up the eye too much because we would most likely be staying at the house until we heard any news from Castiel or Maureen about when I needed to be at the ball park to watch Toby play. The smile on my face grew larger by the minute, especially when I thought about family that I hadn't had a chance to spend much time with over the last few months.

"And that of course was one of the top love songs of 1998, 'Truly Madly Deeply' by Australia's own Savage Garden."

I was beaming when I turned the radio off and chuckled at the happy memories that song provoked. Then I placed my towels on the hanger in the bathroom and headed towards the sound of the TV downstairs.

Sam and Dean had taken my direction to make themselves at home to heart and had flopped onto opposite ends of my plush black suede couch in the den. They had situated themselves quite comfortably in front of the 50 inch flat screen TV that Auntie Mo had Uncle Bill install last year as a combination Birthday/Christmas present, along with a state of the art surround sound system. Even though I hadn't been living in the house, Aunt Maureen work really hard at keep everything in the house up to date in the hopes that one day I would make this house my home again.

"Comfy boys?" I asked as I walked in.

"I swear, this is heaven," Dean said, barely lifting his head from its resting place on the back of the couch.

"How's the arm?" Sam asked as he placed the remote on the coffee table in front of him. He had settled on the movie "Die Hard" on a random movie station which suited me just fine.

"It's looking good to me, how 'bout you?" I asked, stepping closer to him and turning so that he could see my right arm. He took it in his hands and tenderly ran his thumb over the wound.

After scrutinizing his handiwork, he said, "Looks good to me too." He then gently guided my chin towards him so that I was now looking down at him. "The swelling's pretty much gone. That's encouraging."

"Yeah, now I'm just waiting for the Technicolor to fade away," I said with a sigh.

"Give it time, Lay," Dean said with a smile and patted the empty spot on the couch between him and Sam.

I flopped down between the two brothers and couldn't help but smile. Dean wrapped his right arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer to him. He kissed my left temple and continued. "It'll fade soon enough, just give it time."

Sam squeezed my right knee encouragingly and I sunk deeper into the lush suede cushions.

As the movie came to an end, I found myself curled up against Dean with my legs resting on his lap and my back facing his brother. We were wrapped in a fleece blanket that he had found, shielding us from the non-existent cold. He still had a protective arm around me and throughout the movie he would lovingly run his hand down my arm, gently tracing the outline of each stitch.

"Die Hard 2" started rolling after the credits of the first Bruce Willis classic, prompting Dean to say, "Looks like there's a marathon on. All in?"

"Definitely!" Sam and I said before looking at each other and chuckling.

Sam got up from the couch and headed towards the kitchen, asking "Anyone else want anything while I'm up?"

I used my right hand on Dean's chest to help raise my head from his shoulder as I said, "There should be some popcorn in the cupboard above the microwave. Would you mind? Oh… and could you grabs us a couple of beers too!"

Dean leaned his head back further into the couch, trying to get a better look at my face.

"What?" I said through a laugh while returning my head to his shoulder. He did a faux flinch as a playfully slapped his chest. "Consider it that celebratory drink I owe you."

"Ha… sounds good to me."

Sam returned with a beer for each of us, and then he went back to the kitchen to retrieve the now finishing popcorn. He poked his head around the corner and asked, "Hey, uh… where are the bowls?"

"Cupboard to the right of the microwave."

"Oh. Thanks." He promptly returned with two bowls filled to the brim, obviously not wanting to share with Dean and me.

As I took a drink from the bottle, I couldn't help but stare intently at the two of them while they were engrossed in the movie. _Dean was right… this is heaven. Everything's perfect._

"Why don't you take a picture? It'll last longer." Dean teased while pulling the bottle from his mouth. He pinched my right side, just below the ribcage, tickling me in the process.

"Shuddup!" I teasingly punched his chest.

"Ow!" He quietly mocked while playing with the end of my ponytail.

Sam smiled at the exchange and thought to himself, _Man how things have changed in the last 24 hours._

Before my favorite part of the movie started, I uncovered myself and started to slide my legs off Dean's lap. He squeezed me tighter into his embrace, halting any further movement.

"And where do you think you're going?" He asked into my left ear affectionately.

"Nature calls."

He released me while quietly saying, "Hurry back."

I emerged from the bathroom adjacent to the kitchen still smiling to myself. I was thinking about how happy I was to have finally cleared the air with Dean. As I started my return path to the den, I heard a familiar voice call from the breakfast nook, "Adelaide."

"Hey Castiel," I answered with a petulant sigh. _There goes the honeymoon._

"I was not aware that you had gotten married. When did that happen?" He asked, tilting his head with bewilderment showing in his bright blue eyes.

Shaking my head, I chuckled then said, "I didn't, Castiel. It's just an expression. What I meant was that if you're here, then you probably have news about Lucifer's ritual. And that means that this awesome day I've been having with Dean and Sam will be coming to a very abrupt end." I took a seat at the table and Castiel followed my lead and sat down as well.

"So, relations between you and the eldest Winchester have…" he paused, searching for the right word.

"Ameliorated? Yes." I finished the thought for him. "Surprise, surprise, you were right. I ended up coming clean with him about some other stuff other than Toby. Thank you for encouraging me to do so." I looked down at the table to avoid his unyielding gaze, again feeling embarrassed about the vulnerability I was showing.

"You are welcome. But, Adelaide," his voice got deeper and sounded more solemn than before. "He needs to know more. You may have 'come clean' but I do not believe that it is going to be enough to keep you all safe if you are going to work closely together."

I pulled my right foot up onto the chair and rested my cheek on the inside of my knee and quietly said, "I don't want to rush it though, Castiel. If I do, I could completely screw things up and make it so much worse than it has ever been."

"I don't believe that is true. All that I request is that you just keep what I have said in mind, Adelaide."

"I promise I will Castiel." I said while continuing to avoid his stare, knowing exactly what he was talking about. I felt a ball of guilt forming in the pit of my stomach, so I tried to change the subject by asking, "Any word on the ritual or when it's happening?"

"Not as of yet. Since the initial signs, things have become too quiet here lately. I am still working on it and will be in touch soon."

With that last answer he was gone. I didn't move from my spot because I was too lost in my thoughts to go back into the other room to continue watching the movie. My eyes wondered to a scene outside and I shifted my chin so that I was facing the pool deck area.

" **Dean! Stop it! I'm trying to calmly read over here and I really don't appreciate you doing that," I said from the deck chair I was lounging on, sun tanning on an unusually hot late February Saturday.**

" **Come on Lay! Get in the pool!" Dean splashed more water on me. "Your mom won't be home until real late and our dads shouldn't be back until Tuesday. Come on, let's have some fun! So stop reading you nerd!"**

**Since I was already pretty soaked and my magazine was effectively ruined, I decided to give in. I got up, tossed the magazine aside and dove over his head, surfacing on the opposite side of the pool.**

" **Happy now?" I asked with a fake tone of defeat and splashed him playfully.**

" **Oh, now you're going to get it," he retorted and pushed off the edge of the pool to chase me.**

**I shrieked before diving under the water, trying to make my escape to the shallow end. Just as I was about to surface, Dean grabbed a hold of my legs and pulled me deeper under the water so that I would end up in his arms.**

**After he finally allowed me to surface, I turned around and he kissed me passionately. I could immediately feel myself melt in his embrace when his lips connected with mine. He then picked me up with ease and I wrapped my legs around his waist. We waded through the water until my back hit the edge of the pool. Dean then extracted his lips from my own to nibble on my neck and collarbone.**

" **Dean," I moaned out breathlessly, feeling his hands working at undoing the knots of my black bikini bottoms.**

" **Do you want me to stop?" He asked looking up with his chin in between my still covered breasts.**

**I bit my lower lip and after a second or two I shook my head and said, "No, no please don't stop." I knew that we shouldn't have gone any further, but I desperately wanted to feel him inside me again. Although it hadn't been that long since our first time making love in the back of his Impala, my body was aching to be that close with him again.  
**

**Within seconds my bikini bottoms were thrown up onto the pool deck and Dean's were pushed down around his left ankle. It didn't take long after that for the water to splash out of the pool to the rhythm of his deep thrusts. I ran my nails down his back as he steadied our tempo by placing his palms on the edge of the pool. I arched my back while throwing my head back and rested it on the edging of the pool deck, letting out a very loud satisfied moan while my climax came to an end. Dean wrapped his left arm around my waist, grunting excitedly, resting his head on my chest as he achieved his own orgasmic bliss.**

**I ran my fingers through his hair, as he left his head on my chest and I kissed his head and whispered, "I still love you more with every breath."**

**He looked up, kissed my lips gently. "I love you too, Addy."**

**We remained in our tight hug, my legs still wrapped around him, for what felt like an eternity. If this wasn't perfect bliss, I didn't want to know what was because I couldn't have been happier than I was right then.  
**

"Lay? What are you watching out there?" Dean asked. He too looked down at the pool, trying to figure out why the water was suddenly so fascinating, while his left hand twisted my ponytail affectionately.

"Toby was born in the middle of November in '98."

"What?"

I suddenly realized what I had inadvertently said out loud. Since I had spilled the beans already, I forced myself to find the courage to continue that train of thought and to tell him the truth. I looked him in the eye, grabbed his hands on the table and to a deep breath to steady myself as I said, "What I was saying is that Toby was born in late November. In 1998. Nine months after our, you know… our little rendezvous in the pool." Awaiting his inevitable blow up, my eyes flicked down to the table top and pulled my hands away, hugging my knees to my body.

Instead of my predicted reaction, Dean got up, pulled his chair beside mine and my cupped my chin in his palm, forcing me to look at him again. "Addy? Is that your way of telling me that… Toby… he's... Is Toby my son?"

My bottom lip quivered as tears started to well in my eyes. The lump in my throat was too large to swallow, impeding any chance for speech, so I just nodded.

"Why didn't you tell me? Oh my God Lay! Why would you take that on by yourself? You should have told me!" He said. There wasn't a single hint of anger in his tone, only concern, as he held my hands that were still hugging my knees in a near death grip.

My bottom lip continued to quiver as I meekly shrugged and said, "You never came back. I figured you didn't care anymore and had moved onto your next conquest." Seeing the growing hurt in his beautiful green eyes, I diverted my gaze to the table again. Just because I realized now that it wasn't true, didn't mean that it hadn't broken my heart back then to think that I was just another notch on his belt.

"When I didn't come back, it wasn't because I didn't care Lay. It… it was because your dad threatened to kill me if I ever stepped foot in Dubuque County again," he said, placing his hands in his lap, wringing them together. "Now I see why. I thought he was just pissed because he found out I was your first, but considering…"

I looked up at him and straightened out my face the best I could and had to clear my throat twice before I could talk. "That's what you tried to explain to me all those times I hung up on you."

Now Dean was the one who had his face tilted down so that he could avoid making eye contact. He was obviously trying to not break down because he swallowed so hard a couple of times that it was almost audible. After a few moments, Dean nodded and ran his hand through his hair to try to deflect from the fact that he was trying not to let his tears fall.

"I'm SO sorry Dean. I should have listened to you…I shouldn't have… I should have let you explain," I said. I wasn't sure if I could touch him or not, so I halted my hands that were reaching out to him and instead resumed hugging my knees.

Still studying his hands clasp together in his lap, Dean shook his head and said, "No… No, I should have known something was wrong. I should have come back, no matter what."

He grabbed my shoulders, my feet fell to the floor and he pulled me into a tight bear hug. "We both screwed up, Lay. We both fucked up big this time."

"Agreed," I said before Dean kissed my lips lightly. After a minute, we rested our foreheads against one another and just left each other to their thoughts.

I don't know how long we stayed in that position; our eyes closed, our foreheads supporting the weight of the other's head. All I remember is when the shriek of the phone brought us out of our peaceful moment. Finally emerging from the fog, I got up and answered the phone by the back door.

"Hello?"

_"Adelaide? Add… ? Is… ? Is Tobias there with you? Please tell me he is! He hasn't made it home from school…"_

"What? Who?"

 _"Tobias, my… your… our Tobias,"_ Maureen's voice broke and through her tears she finally said, _"Adelaide, I think Tobias is missing."_

I shook my head, hoping that would help clear my mind. "Oh my God, Mo! No, no he's not here. We'll be right over."

Dean was instantly at my side as I hung up the phone. He wrapped his arms around my waist, crushing my left arm and side into his body.

"Lay, what's wrong," he asked, fear creeping into his voice.

Still staring forward, I stammered, "It's Toby… he didn't make it home from school… Mo thought he was here… " I turned my head to the left so that I was looking into his eyes. "Dean… he's… he's gone… Oh my God… my… our… Dean Toby's missing!"


	9. It will break right through

I found myself sitting at the table at the breakfast nook; I can only assume that Dean had sat me there. I had my hands clasped in my lap, was rocking back and forth just staring at the floor trying gather my thoughts. Dean had bee-lined for the den to fill Sam in on the current situation.

"What…? He's…? Toby? He's my nephew?" Sam asked as he walked into the kitchen.

"For the millionth time, yes! And he's missing. That's the important part Sam. Focus! Toby's missing."

Sam was immediately on his knees beside me, my hands swallowed up by his giant right paw while his left cupped my cheek, quietly saying, "Addy, how you holding up? I'm SO sorry. What can I do to help?"

Still in a daze, I furrowed my brow then got up from my chair, without responding. I pulled a jacket off a hook by door, absentmindedly saying, "We should be with Maureen. She must be beside herself with worry. We should be with her right now."

I put the jacket on inside out and started to take the keys down from the rack above the coat hooks.

"Slow down there, Lay," Dean said while grabbing my hand and taking my car keys from me. He then started to extract me from my jacket.

Misunderstanding his motivation from taking my coat off, I angrily cried out, "Dean! What are you doing? Maureen needs our help! We need to get over there as quickly as possible!" Tears were now rushing down my cheeks as I tried to continue my angry tirade.

"And we will help. Let's just get this on properly," he delicately said while turning the sleeves of my jacket right-side out, then he helped me to put it back on. "And Sam will do the driving."

After passing the keys to Sam, he took my hand and guided me to the rear driver side door of my GTO. Sam crawled behind the wheel and Dean ran around to the passenger side to join me in the backseat. As Sam drove to the Conner home, I just stared at the back of his head silently, unable to gather my thoughts to engage in coherent conversation. Sam and Dean exchanged numerous worried glances in the rear view mirror, but did not try to press me to interact with them during the ride.

When we pulled up to the house there was a sheriff's vehicle parked at the end of the driveway. Sheriff Lamb was exiting the rear door of the house and we met him at the bottom of the stairs.

"Thank God you're here, Addy!" He said while pulling me into a tight hug. "Maureen's just a mess! She'll be so happy to see you. And to be honest I really don't think that she be left alone right now."

I could only nod in response, my grief and fear still impeding my ability to form coherent sentences while my arms hung limply at my sides.

"Watch out for her, will you? I promise I'll call you as soon as I have any news." He continued to say as he pulled out our embrace and walked towards his car. He then placed his hat on his head and nodded at the Winchesters as a 'Hello'.

"I will Don," I finally managed to promise quietly.

The three of us then scrabbled up the stairs without knowing exactly what we would find inside. I was the first to make it to the empty kitchen, so I continued into the living room. I found my sweet Auntie Maureen sitting in Uncle Bill's black leather La-Z-Boy recliner. She had a purple and grey afghan that I had crocheted for her as a Mother's Day gift the first year they had Toby living with them wrapped around her shoulders. I was halted at the doorway by the picture of absolute frailty that was before me. She had a picture frame in her left hand and she was running her thumb lovingly over it.

Dean met me at the spot that I was seemingly cemented, placed a hand on each hip and kissed the right side of my neck, near the connection to my collarbone, softly saying, "We're here for you, no matter what you need, Lay. Just say the word and we'll do everything in our power to make it so."

I turned my head to the right, kissed his left cheek, and said, "Thanks Dean. Right now I just need a minute alone with her, okay?"

He nodded and gently squeezed the flesh under each hand before retreating to the kitchen with his brother.

"Maureen?" I approached cautiously, still unsure exactly what to say or how to comfort her during this time of need.

She looked up with her face soaked in tears, saying, "Oh Adelaide! I'm so sorry… we lost him… I don't know how it happened… we… he… he wasn't on the bus after school… oh honey, I'm so…"

I threw myself at her, sitting on the arm of the recliner and pulled her into my chest. "Maureen, it's not your fault. Don't blame yourself. We'll find him, I promise, we'll find him." Through the tears welling up in my eyes, I looked up at the two Winchester brothers, who were now silently watching us from the doorway.

"We'll bring him back to you and Bill, I promise. It's our job to make sure that he comes home safe." I directed the last part more to the other two hunters than to the mother I was holding in my arms.

They both nodded their confirmation to my statement but made no other moves to become actively involved in my interaction with Maureen. _Poor Dean, he just found out that he has a son and before he could even had a chance to get used to the idea, he's thrown into a mission to save his life._ I marveled at Dean's composure during this understandably difficult situation, as he kept offering me an encouraging smile.

"Sam. Dean," Castiel called out softly from deeper inside the kitchen. The two of them turned away briefly to look at the angel that had just called their name.

I was still looking up at Dean while trying to comfort the distraught mother beside me. When our eyes finally reconnected, I mouthed, "What is it?"

"Cas," he said by mouthing the angel's nickname before turning to disappear into the kitchen with Sam and Castiel.

I returned my full attention to Maureen, offering all the words of comfort that I could, even though nothing I could say felt like it was enough. Most of the support that I could offer to her was the echoes of encouragement that Sister Mary Catherine had given to me during my time of need. After what felt like an eternity, Bill still had not returned home, so I decided it would be best for Maureen to rest. I somehow managed to get her upstairs and tucked into bed in an attempt to have her do just that.

Emotionally spent, I sought the only refuge I knew at that moment, Dean's warm embrace. When I got to the kitchen, Sam and Castiel were seated at the table by the bay windows and Dean was leaning up against the island looking towards the other two men. I walked into the room, hugging my mid-section, feeling a little bit queasier with every minute that Toby wasn't safe at home with his parents.

As soon as Dean saw me, he bumped himself off the island with his rear and rushed to scoop me up in his arms. "How's she doing?" He asked as he wrapped me in a tight hug.

As much as my heart swelled at his good intentions, he was quite literally crushing the breath out of me. Gasping for air, I pinched his stomach, hoping that he would loosen his grip. When that didn't work, I grabbed lower  below the waist band of his jeans and he quickly jumped back an inch, pulling his arms off me with a look of pure astonishment clouding his ruggedly handsome features.

"Sorry, I couldn't breathe."

I grabbed his right hand with my left, flashing him an apologetic grin. I allowed him to lead me to his previous spot at the kitchen island, saying, "She completely inconsolable right now. She's blaming herself for his disappearance and is just beside herself. But she's finally resting now. So, what do we know?" I made myself comfortable in Dean's arms as he leaned on the island and I leaned my back against his chest. He squeezed me tightly, acknowledging that he knew the only way I would maintain any semblance of sanity during a time of crisis was to throw myself into our work.

After watching my mother be torn to shreds by a werewolf, I made sure to thrust the silver knife that I took from her grasp into its heart. While I put the murderous beast to its death, I had to ignore the gaping wounds it had inflicted on my back. And after the only beating that my father could lay on me, I hunted and torched a Wendigo that had plagued the Northern Minnesota woods for over 160 years. With work came focus. With focus came sanity, or the closest thing to sanity that a hunter could hope for, so right now I had to focus on the facts of this job to keep myself from completely falling apart.

Sam slowly looked up at me and said quietly, "Cas found sulfur on the school bus."

"Demons," I said. I didn't form it as a question and I didn't need confirmation, but all three nodded. I inhaled deeply then exhaled, trying to keep my emotions in check. "Is this part of the ritual you were telling us about Castiel?"

"Yes, I believe so," he said, not looking away from his hands that were folded on the table. "I believe they are going to test to see if Tobias is a suitable vessel."

"Vessel? Vessel for whom?"

"Lucifer," Castiel paused before he said, "Or Michael."

"What?" My knees gave out again and once again Dean caught me. Sam and Castiel started to get up from the table to help, but Dean waved them off and grabbed a spare chair for me to have a seat while he stood guard to my right. My elbows were on my knees as I shook my head in my hands, asking, "What does that mean?"

I looked up between the three men and said, "Please, someone bring me up to speed. Please!"

"It's supposed to be me," Sam said. I fixed my attention on him, but he refused to make eye contact with any of us and continued to look out the window.

"But how? How could it be you Sam? There's no way YOU could be the Devil incarnate." I replied feeling truly dumbfounded. _Not the boy with the puppy dog eyes that could melt the coldest of hearts. There's no way he could be the body that Lucifer was meant to inhabit._

"Well, I am and he's been trying his damnedest to get me to say 'Yes'," he said with slight annoyance in his voice. It was obvious to me that this wasn't the first time he had engaged in this debate. "Especially since his current vessel can't contain him much longer."

"Okay… but I'm still lost," I continued. I needed to fully understand the situation so that I could deal with it properly and so that we could form some sort of a plan of action. "Why do you have to say 'Yes' to Lucifer? I thought that demons just jammed their nasty-ass black smoke down any poor person's throat. How did you manage to make it so that he needed your permission?"

"That is because Lucifer is not a demon," Castiel said with a gravelly voice. "He is actually a…"

"Fallen angel," I whispered over the rest of his answer. "Sorry Castiel, you were saying?"

"You are correct, Adelaide. At his core, Lucifer is still an angel. Therefore, he must adhere to the same rules as the rest of us by having his vessel agree to the possession of their body."

"Okay… but how does Toby play into this? He's not directly connected to Sam, unless he wants to use him as a 'holding place' until Sam gives him permission."

Dean and Castiel exchanged soulful glances and apparently silently agreed that Dean would take the lead. He pulled up another chair in front of me, covered my hands with his as he sat facing me with his back to the table that Sam and Castiel occupied. My eyes frantically flicked between Sam and Castiel's faces before Dean squeezed my hands tightly to force me to face him.

"Lay, the way it's supposed to work," he said, laboring through the choking gags of sobs that wanted to overtake him. He squeezed my hands tightly again to try to keep himself composed. "Lucifer and Michael are supposed to fight in their human vessels to finally put an end to all of this."

"Okay, so in order to end the apocalypse and put the world back in order, Lucifer and Michael have to re-enact the epic battle they had in heaven here on earth. I get that, but what I still don't get is… What. Does. That. Have. To. Do. With. Toby?!"

"I'm Michael's vessel," Dean said.

"Oh my God!" I gasped out while throwing my left hand over my mouth in horrified understanding. "They want Toby to say 'Yes' to Michael so Lucifer can over-power him."

"Yes, that was our conclusion," Castiel quietly said, now at my right side with a reassuring left hand on my right shoulder.

Neither Dean, nor Sam would meet my gaze because it appeared that something in each of their laps had them transfixed. I clutched both of Dean's thighs.

"Dean… There's no way you could have known," I said. "You didn't know he was your son. Please, don't blame yourself, please? Blame me. This is all MY fault. I'm the only one to blame for this mess."

Dean's eyes rose to look at my distressed face. He remembered my story of my father beating me as he blamed me for everything that had gone wrong in his life and Dean refused to put that burden on me, especially since he didn't believe it was the truth.

"No, Lay this isn't all your fault. You did what you thought was best. We should have known that's why Toby went missing," He said, swallowing hard and paused for a few seconds before he continued with an offer. "How 'bout we agree that none of us were perfect in this instance?"

"Agreed." I said quietly, and then I regained my composure. "So, where do we go from here, boys?"

All of our issues aside, Toby was still missing and most likely in the clutches of one of Lucifer's psychotic henchmen. I knew we needed to get back to the facts of the case soon or I wouldn't be able to maintain any level of self-control.

"Could Maureen offer you any information about where Toby was last seen? Or what he was last seen wearing? You know the usual things like that?" Sam asked as he raised a pen and paper. He too was pushing through his own feelings of guilt to carry on with our latest job.

"Yeah… between the sobs and apologies she was able to give me some information," I said while trying to push the fact that we were trying to save one of my family members to the back of my mind. _Pretend it's just another case, Addy. Don't make it personal._

"After putting on his jersey to show me, Toby refused to take it off…"

Saying his name again out loud broke my steely resolve momentarily because it evoked a vivid image of the look of pure joy on his face when he first showed it to me. Dean passed me a tissue from the box on the island behind my head. After blowing my nose and wiping the tears from my eyes, I took a deep breath, shook my head to try to clear it so that I could continue, "So…he was last seen walking from his school's front steps to the bus. He was still wearing his Red Bird's jersey with the number '2' on the back and a pair of jeans. His back pack was found near the fence that separates the school yard from the parking lot. His backpack was found after the bus left and that was around 3:20."

I was sure that I almost sounded robotic, but my getting emotional wasn't going to help find him, so I went with it. I looked up at the clock on the stove, saying, "So we're looking at a 60 minute time delay."

I looked up at Dean's angel, while trying to find one of Dean's hands to cling to. "Castiel, do you think you could…"

"Yes, of course Adelaide. I will be right back with it," Castiel said after reading my mind's request for him to retrieve Toby's book bag for us to examine. After he left, I did feel a tiny pang of guilt for treating a Messenger of the Lord like a dog playing fetch, but I once again pushed those feelings aside. Nothing mattered but getting Toby home safe and if that meant that I might offend an Angel of the Lord, well so be it.

"We should also have someone check out the school grounds." The two men nodded in agreement. "And we need to find out more about this ritual. Where will it happen? When? And all that," I continued. I didn't mean to sound like I was directing everyone by giving orders, but categorizing everything that needed to be done helped me from succumbing to the overwhelming desire to crawl into a ball and cry.

_Keep moving forward, Addy. We can get through this. Just keep moving on._

"I'll call Bobby. Maybe he can help with the details of the ritual," Sam said as he got up from the table. He was already scrolling through his contact list as he walked out the door, leaving Dean and myself alone.

Dean then lifted his left hand to my right cheek and I immediately yielded to his caress. "We'll find him Lay. We'll find him and bring him home."

I opened my eyes and looked him squarely in the eyes. Our knees were almost touching as I laced the fingers of my right hand with his left. Then I stood up, his eyes curiously following each of my movements, I took a step closer to him, opened my legs to straddle his lap and sat on his thighs. I let go of his hand and moved both of mine to his face. As I held both of his cheeks in my hands, I lowered my lips to his, kissing him passionately. I then deepened my embrace by sliding both hands to the back of his head, forcing him to collide closer to my lips and open mouth. His arms laid limply at his sides as his lips reciprocated even though he had been momentarily stunned at my forwardness. As Dean felt me reaching down to the button and zipper of his jean, he quickly regained the use of his faculties. His hands traced their way to my shoulder and he gave then a gentle push. Once I released from my near suction-cupped embrace, Dean said, "Addy… we can't… we need to stop."

From where I sat I could feel how unfair I had been and quickly stood up, saying, "I'm so sorry Dean. Oh God, I'm so so sorry." I widened the square footage between us as I continued to ramble out my apologies. "I just… I wanted… wanted to thank you. You… you just seemed so sure we'd get him back."

I turned; face in hands, unable to look at him any longer, sure that he was upset with my actions. Once I felt his arms around me, I realized that he didn't stop me because he didn't want me; he stopped me because we had to concentrate on the task at hand just like I had been trying to do before my inappropriate gesture of thanksgiving.

"It's okay, Lay," he said softly into my ear as he put his chin on my shoulder." We just really need to stay focused right now."

I nodded, still astonished that I had tried to find a diversion in sex instead of focusing on work for once. Then we just stood there for a moment. I was in his arms, my back against his chest, his chin on my right shoulder and our hands interlaced in front of me.

"How do you know?" I asked, breaking our silence.

He turned me around, held both of my hands firmly and said with conviction, "Because, like you said, it's our job."

Then he pulled me close to him, held me tight with my cheek resting against his heart.


	10. But it'll never be the same again

Sam re-entered the kitchen just as he was ending his phone call with a quiet but sincere, "Thanks Bobby. Yeah… you too."

He then settled himself into the same spot at the table where he had been seated before leaving the house to make his phone call.

Dean and I separated, all be it reluctantly, to find out what had transpired during his conversation with Bobby. We then sat across from him, our hands seemingly welded together under the table, resting some how on both of our thighs. "Well? What did Bobby say?" Dean asked.

Sam slowly lifted his gaze from his darkened cell phone screen and said, "He's pretty sure he has a book that will have some details about the ritual. From what he could remember, it's particularly…." He paused and looked at me as if he was unsure that he should continue.

"It's okay, Sam," I said, trying to be strong. "I figured the ritual wouldn't consist of the potential victim gorging on lollies and candy canes. Please, continue. I'm okay… really."

"Alright… well from what he remembers, it's particularly bloody. Apparently, every step of the ceremony requires the blood of… the blood of the potential vessel."

"Any word of where it would most likely take place?" Dean asked, trying to get us off the unpleasant topic of anyone forcefully taking blood from the young teen he had just met who seemed to have so much untapped potential for his future.

"Just something vague about untainted soil or something… Bobby couldn't really remember any of the specifics, but he knows where to find the book, so he'll look it over again before getting back to us." Sam then turned and as he finally met my eyes he quietly added, "Bobby said that when he gets here, he needed to have a… umm to have a 'talk' with you. Sorry."

I looked down at the table cloth and picked at an imaginary thread with my free hand while saying, "Yeah, I figured he would be mad."

Dean unlatched his hand from my own to rub my back and then he put his arm around me.

"I don't think he's mad," Sam said. "I think he's just really concerned about… all of you. Plus, he said that the details of the day To… uh… the day of his birth could help to understand some parts of the ritual better."

I reached out across the table and patted his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "You can say his name, Sam. It's alright." Still holding his hand with my right, I grabbed Dean's knee with my left and looked between the two of them in an attempt to reach an agreement between all of us. "Let's just treat this like any other case, okay? No special treatment and no babying me… Got it?"

"But," Dean said softly. "This isn't just any other case, Lay."

"Yes Dean, it is. If I don't think of it that way, I won't be able to get through this, okay? Please, don't hold back anything, especially if you think it might help us find him. No matter how disturbing you think that I might find it. Shielding me from the truth and keeping me in the dark isn't going to help any of us get him back." For some reason I couldn't bring myself to say Toby's name again. It was easier for me to disconnect and stay focused if I didn't use his name. "Not being up front got us here in the first place. Do we have a deal…? We'll all be as honest as we can be until he makes it home safe and sound?"

"Okay," they both said reluctantly.

I was satisfied that we had reached an agreement, so I encouraged Sam to continue by saying, "So, what else did Bobby have to say?"

"Not much else really. He was going to find the book then make his way here. He said that we should just keep digging to get details on the scene where… Toby disappeared from."

As if on cue, Castiel appeared by the kitchen table holding a semi-full grey and blue camouflage backpack and said, "I apologize for the delay. Tobias' backpack was not at the police station as I had originally thought it would be."

"No worries Castiel, thanks again for getting it," I said with a soft smile. "So if it wasn't at the police station, where…? where'd you end up finding it?"

"William had it with him."

"Oh? And you didn't bring Uncle Bill home with you? Is he on his way?" I asked, completely confused. If Bill had already left the sheriff's office, why wasn't he home yet? We could have waited the 20 minutes it would have taken him to drive the short distance home in order to examine Toby's bag.

"Adelaide, I attempted to, but he refused to come with me. William was too intoxicated for me to be able to reason with him. I was barely able to leave with the backpack," Castiel said in his usual unnervingly even tone.

"INTOXICATED!?" I I nearly shrieked in wide-eyed horrification. Then I remembered that Auntie Mo was resting in bed, so I hushed my tone when I continued. "Castiel, please tell me you didn't just say that you found Uncle Bill in a bar… drunk."

"Lay?" Dean said as he unwrapped his arm that was around me and grabbed my hands. "Since when did you become such a Puritan?"

"I'm not Dean, but Bill is an alcoholic. He's been sober for almost ten years now," I said in a disheartened tone. "Maureen is going through hell right now and this… this could kill her. She can't see him like that. It's not fair. Please, we need to get him out of there. Please!" With every word I spoke my desperation became more apparent.

"Lay, Lay, it's okay. We'll get him out of there. Shhh… it'll be okay," Dean said as he pulled me close and tried to comfort me. While my face was buried in his chest, he turned to Castiel and continued. "What was the name of the bar where you found him Cas?"

Before Castiel could answer, I raised my head and said, "There's only one place he'd go. I'll take you guys there. But first, let me go check on Maureen quickly."

Dean slid off the bench to let me out, gave me a reassuring hug and said, "I promise, everything will be okay. Take your time; we'll wait here for you."

"Thanks, I'll just be a minute."

While I went to ensure that the distraught mother was comfortable, Sam filled the other two in on the contents of Toby's knapsack. At first he just found the usual: a couple of text books, a pencil case, a note book and a baseball. Next, on the back of the bag, he found some more sulfur, which further confirmed our suspicions that Toby had been taken by a demon. The right strap had been separated from the top of the bag. The ends were frayed, presumably from the force used to tear it from his delicate frame. There was no blood anywhere, which was encouraging, although, we would have been naïve to believe that when we found him that he would remain completely unharmed. Finally, on the front pocket, Sam noted that the zipper was broken and inside he found another clue: a 4 inch bloodstone pendant, carved into the shape of a rose. They assumed that it belonged to his abductor because it was accompanied by a broken gold chain and had surmised that Toby had yanked it off his abductor's neck during a struggle.

"Well, whoever it is that has him, at least we know that they have good taste in jewelry," I joked feebly from the kitchen doorway, looking at the broken chain that Sam dangled in his hand.

"And now we know it's most likely a woman we're looking for too," Sam said.

"But first things first," Dean said and clapped his hands together as he stood up from the booth. With concern in his eyes, Dean looked at me and finished, "Let's go get Bill and get him sobered up."

As I walked up to the group, I was hugging my body, rubbing my hands up and down my arms as if I was freezing cold (even though I was quite warm).

"I still can't believe he fell off the wagon," I said mostly to myself in disbelief. "He's been doing so well. Through the droughts… through the crop failures…"

"Hey, Cas? Do you think you could stay here with Maureen in case she needs anything?" Dean asked softly while leading me out the back door. I continued to mumble to myself as I was still trying to come to terms with the fact that Bill had turned to the bottle for comfort.

Castiel just nodded in response.

Once we got closer to the car, I suddenly started to change my tune. "I mean seriously! Does he think that he's the ONLY ONE scared shitless and worried right now?!" I was on the verge of becoming hysterically mad with every step I took towards my car. "I can't believe him! He SHOULD be here! With Maureen! Doesn't he think that she might need him?! That selfish piece of…"

Before I could finish the thought, Dean had pulled me into a bear hug, stifling any further outburst from me at this time. He rubbed both hands from the small of my back to my neck, alternating left and right hands as he tried to calm me.

"Shhh, Lay. You don't mean that. Come on. It'll be alright."

I gently pushed out his embrace so that I could look at his face, inhaled deeply and continue, still quite angry, "But Dean he needs…"

He pulled me back into his arms and his right hand guided my head to his left shoulder while he massaged my neck. "I know…I know. But we really need you to be calm before we head out to get Bill," he tried to reason with me quietly.

I hated to admit that Dean was right, once again, but there was no way I could get Bill to straighten out if I myself wasn't under control. I again pushed away from him slowly and without making eye contact, I said, "You're right…I'm calm now. I swear… I'm ready to go bring Bill home so we can… I'm ready to go."

"I won't let that happen again," I promised both of them. I untangled myself from his supportive arms, straightened my jacket to further compose myself and made my way to the car.

"Addy, we can go and take care of this on our own. Why don't you stay?" Sam asked, stopping me by gently grabbing my right arm.

All of the day's events were very overwhelming, but I had already vowed to see this through. Plus I knew that if Bill wasn't listening to the advice of an angel, there was no way he was going to listen to a Winchester.

"Thanks Sam, but I really can do this. Plus, Bill can get pretty nasty when he's been drinking. I'm one of the only people that he won't try to fist fight with when he gets this bad. I promise I'm okay to do this."

Then I slid into the back seat of my GTO because I knew that I was far too emotional to try to navigate it safely into town. Dean once again crawled in beside me, taking on the role as my own personal guardian angel. Sam then made himself behind the wheel while I said, "I'm sorry if you're feeling like our own personal chauffeur today."

Sam laughed good-naturedly and said, "That's no problem, Addy. I'm just glad that someone trusts me enough with their 'beloved' to let me drive it more than once in a day."

I gave him a small smile and quietly said, "Just hang a right out of the driveway and follow the road. The bar is just on the other side of town."

As we drove down the road, sporadically passing the farm houses that accompanied the vast cornfields, I stared out the window, lost in thought.

"Everything's going to be okay, Lay. He's probably just really worried about Toby," Dean said as consolation while squeezing my right knee.

I slowly turned to face him and said with a heavy sigh and said, "I know. But after what Sydney did to me, Bill stopped drinking cold turkey… Like on the spot when he…  when he saw the damage done to me. He was scared he might do something like that in a drunken rage… so he… If I had of just told Maureen why we were in town last night, maybe they could have protected Toby better. You know? Maybe kept him out of school? Something…anything."

"Lay, you can't blame yourself. You know as well as we do that that wouldn't have stopped Lucifer… at least not for long. He would have just found another way to get to him," Dean said firmly trying to reason with me.

"Yeah…I know. Still…Bill and Maureen don't deserve to be stuck in the middle of this. They're such good people. I mean…they've always, always been there to take care of me. They patched me up after fights, no questions asked. And what do I do? I just breeze in and out of town, whenever I please, barely spending a full 24 hours with them and… and now…now I've gotten their son kidnapped."

"You seriously have to stop blaming yourself," he said with a tone of slight annoyance.

"I will Dean…when he's home safe." I maintained eye contact with him and expressed my regret saying, "I'm sorry, but that's the best I can offer right now."

Dean nodded. He understood the guilt of not being able to keep a loved one safe all of the time. We all knew that a part of being a hunter was the guilt you felt for not being perfect. People were going to get hurt, some would even die and there really was nothing any of us could do to prevent it. That said we still secretly accepted some of the blame anytime something did go wrong.

I noticed that we had made it past the main portion of town so I gave Sam turn by turn directions the rest of the way to the rundown bar. "Stubby's" was nothing more than a weathered shack next to a small motel that looked like it should have been demolished 20 years ago. None of the curtains on the windows were open, most of the doors were missing their metal room numbers and the sign only illuminated the "rave n" of "Traveler's Inn". Sam pulled in beside some of the other cars in the makeshift parking lot and I noticed Bill's old brown Ford F150 right away and shook my head.

Once we were all out of the car, Sam looked at Dean and silently asked, "So?" to confirm that we were in fact in the right place.

Dean nodded in the direction of the pickup and quietly responded with a hint of melancholy, "That's his truck over there."

"Sorry Addy," Sam said in my direction. "Are you sure you're up for this?"

"Yeah, I sure," I said. Normally I would have been annoyed at the constant questioning of my welfare, but I had somehow accepted that Sam and Dean were concerned for my emotional well being and not my ability to fight, so I let it go.

Immediately after I entered the seedy saloon, the bartender looked up from wiping down the bar and gestured to a dark figure slumped on his stool at the end of the wooden counter with his rag. Stubby had grown accustomed to directing me to a drunken member of the family many years ago.

I nodded and made my way over to him. Before I touched Bill's shoulder, I took a deep breath to keep myself under control. I reached out and gently tugged his shoulder saying, "Bill? Bill?"

He whipped around to look at me. His face was an absolute mess because his eyes were bloodshot and his cheeks were soaked with tears. "Addy?"

Once he realized that it was me, he looked at the glass of brown liquid in his hand and threw it violently to the ground. As the glass smashed on the floor, he hung his head in embarrassment.

"Oh Addy, I'm so sorry! It's just…we lost…I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, we lost him."

I pulled him into a hug and tried to comfort him by saying, "It's not your fault Bill. Nobody blames you or Mo. I swear no one, not even me thinks that you had anything to do with this. I promise. None of this is your fault." He continued to cry into my chest as I pulled tightly into a hug.

"Bill…Maureen needs you right now. You need to be there for her until we find your son and bring him home to you two."

He looked up and saw nothing but love and concern in my eyes. I then became conscious of the fact that he had blamed himself for Toby's disappearance and thought that I would be angry with him for losing the child I had placed in their care.

"Maureen?" He asked as if he was just remembering the women he loved was hurting too while he slowly pushed out of my embrace. "Oh goodness…she must be a mess. Oh God…I should…I need to… she needs me. She shouldn't be alone right now…  how could I have left her like…?"

I grabbed both of his shoulders to steady him and said, "Yes she does Bill. But she also needs you sober. We have a friend staying with her right now, so don't worry about that just yet. Why don't you come with me so we can get you cleaned up for her? Okay?"

He nodded and silently allowed me to escort him out of the seedy bar. At the bottom of the short stairway, I pointed him in the direction of his truck and turned to the brothers. "Why don't you take my car? I'll take him in his truck and meet you back at my place, sound good?"

"Okay, see you there."

Once inside my GTO, Sam turned to Dean (who now occupied his more usual place behind the wheel) and asked, "Who's Sydney?"

Dean's eyes remained fixed, staring out the windshield when he said flatly, "Sydney is Lay's father. He beat her after her mother died and she's lived with the Connor's ever since that night. The two of them had…issues. She uses his first name to…she does it to deal with it all, you know?"

"Shit. Sorry. I had no idea."

Dean turned to look at his younger brother, his face expressionless as he continued, "Well now you do. Just…just don't make a big deal about it with her, okay? It's bad enough… we just have to focus on finding Toby right now, okay?"

"Of course," Sam agreed with a soft nod.

Dean turned over the engine and eased my car out of the parking lot, following the truck's taillights to my house.

 


	11. And you can take a cactus heart

As we pulled into the end of the long driveway, we all seemed to notice the silhouette of a large dark van who announced Bobby's arrival at the same time. Since he wasn't able to get his wheel chair up the 5 steps to the house, Bobby sat on the top stair awaiting our return, while the chair rested at the bottom.

Sam jumped out of the GTO and quickly scooped up the awaiting wheelchair and escorted Bobby into the house. Dean parked my car and then made his way to the passenger side of Bill's pickup truck to help me with the now sleeping man into the garage at the back of the yard.

"There's a bedroom in the back," I told Dean as we opened the door and struggled with the dead weight of Bill's six foot, muscular, farm work hardened body.

"Oh, really? Sounds like as good a place as any for him to sober up."

The bedroom was quite small, just large enough to house a very comfortable twin bed with a end table tucked into a corner opposite where the bed could be found. It was situated at the back of the garage next to a bathroom that consisted of nothing more than a toilet and a sink with a medicine cabinet hidden behind a mirror.

After we got Bill comfortable and ensured that he was still sleeping, Dean and I made our way to the main house as I explained, "My Poppy, Syd's dad, had a friend build the bedroom for me after I fell asleep watching him work in there one day when I was 10. He hated the thought of me sleeping on the ground while he worked."

"That was nice of him," Dean said with a warm smile.

"Yeah…Poppy loved visiting and taking care of me when Mum and Syd went out on hunts. You know… my GTO was originally his and he started restoring it the day after I told him it was 'my favoritest car ever' when I was 9. When we were here together, we were practically inseparable. He would bend over backwards for me… he would cater to my every whim if my parents didn't stop him from completely spoiling me." Somehow we paused there and now found ourselves sitting on the bottom stair at the back of the house as we continued to talk. I nodded towards the pool and deck area and quietly added, "Hence all of that over there. If I asked for it, he made sure it was mine, even after I recanted or insisted that I didn't really need any of the stupid thing I asked him for."

"He must have really loved you."

I smiled softly, remembering the first person who truly felt like a father figure to me. "He really did. He never said it, but I think he was trying to compensate for Sydney not wanting me."

"Don't say that, Lay. I'm sure your dad loved you… he had to somehow, in his own way," Dean said, grabbing my hands to comfort me.

I squeezed his hands and shook my head, smiling at the impending explanation because I knew that although I had come to terms with the reality of my childhood and my relationship with my father I knew that it still wouldn't make a whole lot of sense to Dean. "No, no he didn't Dean. And I'm not saying that for pity or because I used to be so angry with him that I secretly wished we weren't related or worse, it's… it's just a fact. After meeting my Mum he fell head over heels in love with her and the job. He felt like she completed him and the job was his life's purpose." I laughed softly. "Do you remember how obsessed my Mum was with Australia?"

Dean chuckled and nodded. The first time he and John stayed at the house, Dean tripped over and nearly broke my Mum's didgeridoo. He had absolutely no idea what it was and it took him three days to suck up his pride and ask me about it. The poor guy was even coerced into eating more than his share of Vegemite sandwiches, something I was never able to do myself since the first bite I had taken into one at the age of ten had caused me to gag so intensely that I nearly threw up. Our den used to be a virtual shrine to the country, filled with souvenirs of all trips that my parents had taken to 'The Land Down Under' before I was born, but all of that was forgotten and put away not too long after her death.

"Poppy used to joke that his son was so in love with my Mum that he would have even let her name me 'Brisbane' like she had wanted to. Luckily, all of my grandparents rallied together and stepped in to save me from that one."

We both shared a soft yet somewhat uncomfortable laugh at that thought. Then I held Dean's hands more tightly in my own and looked him the eye as I and continued to explain, "I don't hate him for any bad things that happened in my life, Dean. I've come to terms with the fact that I was an unwelcome addition to his life and have just let the rest of my anger go. It's one of the many things that Sister Mary Catherine helped me work through. I know my Mum and the rest of my extended family loved me and I absolutely adore them. That's all I needed and that's what I'll always cherish in my life."

Dean sat in his spot staring at me in disbelief for a moment before he said, "I don't know how you can say that you don't hate him for it. I mean…to not be in love with your only child… that's… that's just messed up."

I hugged him then held his face with my right hand, stroking his cheek with my thumb. The look of hurt and bewilderment in his eyes caused my heart to break slightly. I knew that Dean had had his issues with John and Sam, but he loved them unconditionally and vice versa. No matter what argument they had, no matter how big or how small the disagreement, they somehow always had and would find a way to reconcile. I had no doubt that he would never have been able to make it this far in life if he ever thought that his family didn't truly love and support him.

"I know, it's completely messed up Dean, but it is what it is. I forgave him a long time ago and am at peace with it. I used to pray to God and beg Him that one day Sydney would come to his senses, but it never happened. I just figured God had his reasons for making Sydney the way he was and have figured that when it's time I'll understand why. I felt so much love from everyone else in my life that I just refused to dwell on that part of my life because it's just stupid to let it rule my thoughts."

"I still don't know how you do it," he said and shook his head.

I lowered my hand to hold both of his again and looked deep into his green eyes and simply said, "I know that there is a master plan and just kept moving towards the next challenge that I would eventually come across. This job can really help a girl keep her mind off any subject she doesn't want to dwell on, you know?"

"I hear that," he said with a chuckle.

As we pulled each other into a hug, we heard the door open behind us.

"Hey guys, sorry to interrupt, but Bobby thinks he found something," Sam said from around the back door.

Dean and I got up, stretched a bit and made our way up the stairs. Inside, Sam sat at the breakfast nook, coffee in hand. Bobby looked exactly as I remember him; wearing his standard flannel shirt, trimmed bear and trucker cap. The only glaring difference was his lifeless legs resting in a fairly used wheelchair. Bobby had told me about the demon attack that had left him paralyzed, but all of our conversations had been over the phone. For one reason or another our paths hadn't crossed in person, I kept missing him by a day or two every time I tried to visit him at his home. Those two things kept the reality of his condition from completely sinking in and finally seeing him like that took my breath away for a moment.

"Bobby?"

"Hey Koala Bear, long time no see."

I ran over to hug him, kindly saying, "Well some of us don't stay in one place long enough to be seen. I've tried to visit at the house but you were always off on a hunt or something."

"Ditto Beautiful."

_Bobby had tried to visit? I should have known! But he never said anything!_

After sitting next to me, Dean got us back on track by asking, "Bobby, Sam said that you may have found something about the ritual?"

"Yeah, I did Dean," Bobby said as he flipped the pages of an ancient looking book that he placed on the kitchen table. "It says here, from what I could translate so far, that to test the viability of the vessel, they need to take him to his place of birth. I'm figuring that means the actual building since we're already in his hometown."

All three men turned their attention to me while Bobby carefully asked, "Addy, do you remember which hospital Toby was born at?"

"I didn't have him in a hospital," I replied slowly. "The convent wasn't large enough to have a private hospital, so I… I gave birth to him in my room at the visitor's dormitory."

"Hmmm… interesting…" Bobby mulled over the information while studying the book that he had moved into his lap. "So that would mean that he was born on consecrated ground then?" He asked no one in particular because he seemed to direct it to the book he was reading.

"I suppose so. Does that make a difference?" I asked.

"Huh? Oh…" Bobby looked up and focused his attention on me again. "Actually, yes, yes it does. That'll make it easier for Lucifer. Normally he would have had to perform a separate ceremony to purify the site of Toby's birth before he could continue. Since the land is already considered hallowed, he'll be able to skip that step."

"Shit," I said under my breath. I hated the fact that my place of refuge during that difficult time in my life was making it easier for the Devil to complete his dirty deed.

"But at least now we know where everything is going to happen," Sam said encouragingly.

"Right. So we've got the where. How about the when Bobby? Any idea how long we have?" Dean asked trying to keep us focused on going forward with our research.

"No sorry. It took me all day just to decipher the where," Bobby apologized. "I'll (he yawned) keep working on it."

I looked over at the clock on the stove. Everything had happened so fast during the past day that I hadn't noticed it was already past 2 am. I  then quickly took a moment to examined everyone in the room. All three of them looked absolutely exhausted, their eye lids were drooping and their mouths yawned periodically and suddenly my own fatigue started to hit me hard.

"We'll ALL keep working on it," I said. "But our being sleep deprived won't help. You've had a long drive Bobby and we've had an exhausting day. Why don't we grab some shut eye and start this up again early in the morning?"

Before the other two could protest, Bobby nodded and agreed, saying, "You're right, Koala Bear. Come on guys, you heard the lady. First we rest, and then we'll figure the rest out tomorrow."

Sam nodded and got up from the table. He squeezed Bobby's shoulder, patted Dean on the back and gave me a hug before saying "Good night" and heading upstairs.

I went into the den and made up the fold out couch bed for Bobby and closed the door to allow him to get settled in private.

Dean then took my hand and led me upstairs to our rooms. Once we reached our separate doors, without a word I lightly tugged him into my room. Before we crawled under the covers, we both removed our jeans, but were too tired to deal with finding pajamas. I softly kissed Dean's lips then turned on my side with my back facing him. At that moment, suddenly, all of the day's events and revelations hit me and I was overwhelmed with emotion and couldn't stop the tears that started spilling silently down my cheeks.

Dean pulled me into his chest, wrapped an arm around me and kissed my hair before saying against my hair without acknowledging my tears, "Please try to get some sleep, Lay."

I sunk deeper into his embrace, matching his bent position perfectly. I then interlaced my left hand with his right hand so that his arm was wrapped even tighter around me and whispered, "I'll try…" But before I could finish saying anything else, I heard Dean's soft snore in my hair, so I closed my eyes and tried to fall asleep without disrupting him any further for the night.

After what felt like just an hour or two, I woke up to Dean's attempt to get out of bed without disturbing me and I turned to look at him.

"Oh, hey. Sorry. I was going to let you sleep a bit longer," he said as he crawled over the bed to kiss my head.

I yawned and stretched before saying, "It's okay. I'm ready to get to work."

"Okay. See you downstairs in five?"

I nodded and before I was out of bed, he had already pulled his jeans on and had started to make his way to the kitchen. I rolled out of bed and pulled my hair into a ponytail. Then I grabbed the same pair of jeans that I wore the previous day and pulled them on. I then found a bra tank that I normally reserved wearing for my sporadic jogs and topped it with an over-sized black kangaroo sweatshirt. I knew that the day ahead would be a difficult one, so all I really wanted to do was to crawl back into bed and pretend that the world outside the four walls of my bedroom didn't exist, so I could really care less if anyone thought that I didn't look like a runway model right now.

_Come on, Addy. He needs you. Just focus on the job. You can do this.  
_

To my surprise, when I got down stairs, there was a full house in my kitchen. Sam and Dean were seated beside each other on one side of the table, Bobby was at the head and Uncle Bill sat opposite the brothers. It looked like Bill had used the shower in the main floor bathroom to clean himself up. All of them were enjoying a hearty breakfast consisting of hash browns, eggs and bacon, which was lovingly prepared by Auntie Maureen who was still on her feet working on something in a pan on the stove.

When I walked into the room, Maureen ran from her post at the stove to give me a tight hug, saying, "Good morning Adelaide. How are you feeling today?"

"I'm doing okay Auntie Mo," I said, concern creeping into my voice. "How are you?"

"Oh, I'm still kind of shaky, but I have faith in you and the boys… I just want to do whatever I can to help by keeping you all fed to help keep your energy up," she said and then quickly returned to her cooking.

I nodded and then turned my attention to the males at the table. Bill had already gotten up from his seat to pull me into a hug while he quietly said, "I'm so sorry for last night Addy. Thank you for taking care of me. I promise I won't let that happen again."

I patted him on the back and said, "It's okay Bill. We all have moments of weakness." I pushed out of his embrace so that I could look into his eyes and continued in a lighthearted tone. "Just next time, call your sponsor or I will kick your butt thoroughly myself."

He allowed himself to laugh softly. Then he nodded and said, "Next time I think I need a drink, I will definitely do just that. I'll do anything to save myself from one of your butt kickings."

I then found a place at the table across from Dean, while Bill returned to the spot he had occupied when I first entered the room. Before I had completely settled at my spot, a plate with an omelet and apple slices and a cup of coffee with cream was placed in front of me. I looked up at my Aunt Maureen feeling completely gob smacked and could only smile as a thank you as I marveled at her amazing poise this morning.

"We've decided to make your house our base camp, Koala Bear," Bobby announced from his spot. "We figure this place has more safety precautions than most anywhere that we could work out of."

I nodded, knowing that what he said was the truth. When Poppy was putting the finishing touches on the house, he made sure that Devil's Traps were strategically placed throughout the house and that salt was used in the paint. I even remember my Mum telling me once that he had a priest, a rabbi and a shaman bless the house on different occasions, but I still wasn't sure if that was just her way of teasing me or not.

While I started to cut into my omelet with my fork I asked, "Have we made any headway with when the ritual will happen?"

"Not quite yet," Sam said. "We figured that the three of us could do some recon out at the convent to see if we can get a handle on how many demons we're dealing with and where they're keeping… Toby. And while we do that, Bobby and everyone else will work on finishing the translations."

"Sounds good," I said, slightly impressed at the delegation of responsibilities that happened before I could get up this morning.

"I think I found a book in your library that might help us with the translations," Bobby said with a hopeful tone. "Soon we should have more answers than questions I hope."

"That's good to hear," I said, distracted by watching Maureen as she started to prepare yet another batch of scrambled eggs. She had already prepared enough food for a small army and didn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon.

In a hushed tone, I asked the men around me, "Has she eaten today?"

They all just shrugged and looked a little bit guilty.

"She was cleaning in the kitchen when I got up and then she started cooking as soon as I got into the room," Sam replied.

I then got up, empty plate in hand and walked over to our chef. After putting my plate by the sink, I gently paused Maureen's unceasing motion by lightly grasping her hands that were in mid-stir.

"Maureen, have you eaten today?" She looked up at me after I spoke to her. Her face looked 10 years older and tired with blood-shot eyes, "Auntie Mo… did you sleep last night?"

"Oh Adelaide, I'm fine darling," she said cheerfully, trying to dismiss my concern. "Please don't worry. I just wanted to make sure you all are taken care of and fed."

"And you've more than done that. Please, you need to eat something to keep your strength up. Here, let me do the clean up, alright?"

To my amazement Maureen didn't argue with me and immediately relinquished the bowl quite easily. Bill had already put together a plate of food for her and guided her to my now vacant seat. As I turned to start loading the dishwasher, I was once again awestruck by what I saw. Dean had already retrieved all of the empty plates from the table and was loading them into the dishwasher. I must have been staring with a look of confusion contorting my face because Dean said with a mildly hurt tone, "Hey! Don't look so surprised! I'm here to help too."

I just smiled and kissed his cheek, saying, "And I appreciate everything you're doing."

Then I turned my attention to the whole group. "Since we're heading out to the convent, I'm think I'll fix myself up a bit better. I don't think the nuns would take too lightly to me showing up with this." I finished by pointing to my purple eye.

Before I could leave the room, Bobby called out, "Which reminds me. Did you idjits figure out what your cover will be out there?"

"Umm…not really," Sam tried to field the question. "The FBI would have jurisdiction, right?"

"No need Sam," I quickly answered. "That place was like a second or… err a third home to me. We can simply go there under the guise of me returning home with my boyfriend and his family to show them where I grew up easy enough."

After I finished, I swallowed hard, hoping Dean wouldn't feel too uncomfortable with my labeling him with the dreaded "B" word.

Instead, Dean pulled me into a fairly passionate kiss, apparently forgetting we weren't alone in the room, and whispered coyly, "Bringing home the boyfriend, huh?"

I brushed my nose across his cheek and nose, kissed him lightly on the lips and replied, "Seems like something a 'normal' girl would do. Since they don't know about this side of me and all…"

"Ok, so we've got that covered then," Bobby said loudly.

Dean and I separated quickly and focused our eyes on the ground, embarrassed that we had gotten so carried away in front of our friends and family.

"Ummm…yeah…I'm gonna go get changed and all that…" I said as I quickly left the room.

After seeing our little display, everyone at the table shared a chuckle at our expense but they didn't overtly try to poke fun at us, at least not out loud.

Sam then looked down at the clothes that he had been wearing for the last 36 hours. They were covered with spots of blood and dirt and had tears in places that proved he had been in some sort of a scuffle. "Uh, Dean? We might not have to wear a suit and tie, but WE might want to look a bit more presentable too."

"You might have a point there Sammy. Excuse us while we get cleaned up too," Dean said politely to the room before they both made their way upstairs.

I had settled on a pair of black cords and a light weight teal v-neck sweater to wear as "Adelaide Jones, normal everyday girl". I was sitting in front of my vanity, working at covering up the bruising on my face, when I heard a knock on my door.

Without turning around, I called out, "Come in!"

The door opened and when I saw the figure behind me come into my room through the reflection of the mirror, I dropped my make-up brush in shock. I turned to get a better look at Dean, who was wearing what looked like a brand new pair of dark denim jeans, a baby blue dress shirt and a navy blue blazer. Sam stepped in behind him, looking very collegiate in a matching pair of dark denim jeans and a white collared shirt, topped with a blue, green and grey argyle sweater vest.

"Wow! You boys sure do clean up good," I said finally.

"You know…you could give a guy a complex with all of your shocked expressions there," Dean said with a wink.

"Sorry. But you have to admit, this isn't exactly the norm for you."

"Well, yeah," Sam said, "But we wanted to look the part. Especially since these are your friends we're visiting."

I put the finishing touches of a smoky eye look with eye shadow on both lids, and then retied my hair into a bun, saying, "And I appreciate the effort."

"So are you ready to head out, Lay?" Dean was starting to look uncomfortable as he and Sam started to leave my room.

"Boots and jacket and then I'm good to go." I sat on the bed to pull on my black ankle boots when something hanging from my lamp on my dresser caught my eye.

I walked over to and it and picked it up gingerly, almost as if it would crumble from my touch. I carefully removed the chain from the hooked metal base of the lamp. I smiled as I examined what I now recognized was the white gold Celtic cross that had hung around my mother's neck since before I could remember. I stared at it lovingly, the memories of my Mum came flooding back to my consciousness and overwhelmed me.

"Lay? Are you okay?" Dean asked softly from the door as he stepped back into my room.

I turned to him, still somewhat unable to speak, just staring at the pendant. I held it out to show him, trying desperately to find the words to explain to him while also hoping that I wouldn't actually have to say the words to make him understand what was happening with me.

"What do you have there?" He took the pendant in his hands. "Isn't this Victoria's?"

"Yeah…it's my Mum's," I said with a broad smile. "Could you put it on me?"

I turned around and he took a step forward while he undid the clasp. He wrapped the chain around my neck and as we both stood in front of the vanity mirror, Dean pulled me into his chest. As he hugged me we both stared at each other in the mirror.

"It looks perfect on you," he said.

"Thanks. I can't believe I didn't know she had left it for me here all these years. I mean I don't remember seeing it when I packed up and left here for good… " I quickly shook my head to clear it of the rest of that thought because I knew it wouldn't lead to anywhere good. I then turned around to look him in the eyes and placed a soft his on his lips. "Okay, 'Boyfriend', I think I'm ready now."

Dean chuckled and passed me the grey trench coat I had laid out on my bed, saying, "Okay, 'Girlfriend', let's do this then."


	12. Leave it in the driving rain

We all decided that we would use the Impala as our mode of transportation to the convent  without much conflict. I told Dean it would help to maintain the guise of him playing the role of my boyfriend, but I knew in my heart of hearts that it killed a part of Dean to not be behind the wheel when a vehicle was in motion. And I'm not one to watch another person unduly suffer, so I forced Sam to sit in the front passenger's seat as well instead of tucking his tall frame into the back seat like he had offered. It seemed like it would be rather uncomfortable for him to be squished in the back and I was in such a weird head space that I the least of my concerns was how comfortable I felt while riding to the convent.

While the two brothers bickered in their seats upfront about everything from what route to take to what music we should listen to on the ride, I allowed my thoughts to wander as I gazed out the window at the passing scenery.

_" **Mummy?" I nearly whispered into the phone after she had answered when I finally gained the courage to dial the house number to try to speak with her.  
**_

" **Oh Roo! I was so worried! It's been over a week since you took off on me, are you okay? Are you safe? Darling, where on our God's green Earth are you?"**

_" **Mum, I'm so sorry that I've worried you. I really didn't mean to scare you, I swear, but I'm okay and I'm safe. Promise."**_

" **What happened Roo? Did that wanker say something to upset you? Did he make you want to run away from me?** **"** _ **I could hear the foreign sound of anger creeping into her voice for the first time ever when she had been speaking with me.**_

_" **No, Mummy. I didn't run away because of anything Dean said. It's just… I need some time to figure everything out, y'know? I'm so huge now that I can't keep ignoring the fact that the baby will be here soon and I still don't know how I'm going to manage this."**_

" **I understand that, but you know that your Ol' Cheese is here to help with anything you need, right?"**

_" **And I love you so much for that Mum, but I really feel like I need to figure this out on my own. I'm so sorry that that might hurt you because I don't mean it it to be like that. But I just can't stay in the house right now. Not with dad being so angry all the time because I don't know what he might do to me."**_

" **Okay, okay. I see what you're saying. But I NEED to know you're safe Adelaide. Where are you staying? I hate the thought of you being alone right now; especially since the baby is due to arrive in less than 2 months."** _ **Her tone had shifted from anger to motherly concern so quickly that it ALMOST threw me off.  
**_

_" **I swear I'm somewhere safe. Please Mum, don't be mad but I just can't tell you where I am yet."**_

" **But Roo, you don't have anything for protection with you. What if some nasty bugger catches your scent? You're leaving yourself so vulnerable and I would just die if anything happened to yo** **u, especially right now."** _ **  
**_

_" **Mum, I'll be fine. I have a silver knife, my Colt 1911 with all my nifty ammo, my machete and everything else…" I trailed off, realizing what she had been trying to get me to understand.**_

" **In your GTO and you left it here at home, Roo. I promise, if you tell me where you are, I'll bring it to you then I'll let you be until you're ready for me, okay?"**

_" **You promise? You'll drop it off and let me stay here all alone so I can think?"**_

**"Roo I swear that I will. I swear…on the life of Olivia Newton-John…I swear on the lives of the Bee Gees. Adelaide, I'll even swear on the lives of Darren and Daniel…"**

_**I couldn't stifle my laughter any longer as I interrupted, "Okay Mum, I believe you. If you're willing to risk all of their lives then I know I can trust you!"** _

_**I wiped the tears I had shed from laughing with my sleeve and tried to compose myself. I still don't know how my mother did it, but she could cut the tension in any situation effortlessly with a simple joke or comment. When we were hunting she would randomly break into singing a song like "Locomotion" to keep me from getting too serious. Her reasoning for this was that if we didn't keep things loose, we would get tunnel vision which in turn would get us hurt.** _

_" **Okay…okay Mum." I finally managed to calm my laughter. "Mum, I'm staying at the Our Lady of Mercy Convent right now."**_

" **Adelaide Victoria Jones! That is so not funny. I'm worried sick about you and gave you the benefit of the doubt that you would tell me the truth on your own, but I have to demand that** **you tell me where you are staying right now young lady."** _ **She again sounded uncharacteristically annoyed even though I hadn't spoken one untrue word to her which told me that she was well and truly afraid for my safety.**_

_**However in the moment I just giggled in response to her quick tongue. "Mum, I'm serious. Sister Mary Catherine picked me up while I was trying to hitch hike on the side of the road and she said that I could stay here as long as I needed to. I swear to you I'm not lying about where I am."** _

" **Okay,"** _ **she replied while still sounding  uncertain.**_ **"Well in that case… I'll bring by the GTO tomorrow. And you better be there or there'll be hell to pay Roo!" _She finished with a more lighthearted tone._**

_" **I promise I'll be here. I love you so much Mum."**_

" **I love you too, Roo. I'll see you tomorrow."**

_**The next day I sat and waited for my mum to arrive at a picnic table, reading some books Sister Mary Catherine had recommended to help me after I had decided to give up my child to our family friends for adoption. As I was writing some of my random thoughts in my journal I heard the rumble of the engine from my classic 1967 muscle car. To my surprise, it was accompanied by a louder rumble from the engine of a massive pickup truck. When I looked up I saw a familiar Black GMC Sierra Grande following my Fathom Blue beauty.** _

**Crap! Why is he here too? Shit… shit! This is so not how I planned this to go down.** _**I thought to myself as I got up and smoothed down the skirt of my bubblegum pink summer dress and straightened my white cardigan over top of it.** _

_**My Mum had barely gotten the car into park before she jumped out and ran over to me to wrap me in a huge bear hug. With her strength that had been sculptured through a life-time as a hunter, it was easy for her to lift me off my feet, despite the size of my ever growing belly.** _

_" **Oh Addy! You look so beautiful Roo! I've missed you two so much!" She exclaimed before bending down to kiss my belly.**_

_**By this time, John had gotten out of his truck and was watching the reunion between my Mum and me wide-eyed and in complete awe.** _

_" **Adelaide?" He asked with a tone of confusion at the state he just found me in.**_

_" **Hi John," I looked up at him sheepishly and tucked my hair behind my ears in a nervous gesture of discomfort.**_

_**My Mum took a step aside and quietly told me, "I'll let you two talk for a minute alone." Then she turned and walked over to the picnic table I had left and started to look at the books I had been reading, including my journal.** _

_**John slowly walked closer to me and instinctively put his hands out to touch my enormous pregnant belly, saying, "Adelaide…you're…you're…"** _

_" **Pregnant? Yes, I am… and I'm a little over seven months along now."**_

_" **Does…? Does he know?" He looked at me with tears of concern attempting to form in his eyes.**_

_" **No," I said and diverted my gaze to my hands that were still fidgeting with the hem of my cardigan. "And there's no reason for him to ever know about this, either. I'm not going to keep him… or her, so there's no reason to worry him, okay?"**_

_**I finally looked up at him and he just shook his head in response. I took both of his hands in mine and then stated more firmly while maintaining very direct eye contact, "John, it's okay, really. I swear that I've made peace and I'm totally okay with this decision. Please, please just promise me you won't tell him because it won't change anything about what I've decided _ **…**_ I swear to you it won't."** _

_" **If you're sure that's what you want," he said with a tone of uncertainty.**_

_" **It is." I jumped in a little too quickly. "You know as well as I do that this life… our job… it's no way to raise a child. Please, he can't know, please don't put this burden on his shoulders when it doesn't need to be. Please just let me give this baby the chance we didn't with parents that will give him or her the life they deserve filled with love and understanding."**_

_**After a long moment of contemplation, he pulled me into a soft hug and quietly said into my ear, "I promise Adelaide, your secret's safe with me."** _

_**After that statement, he then turned and slowly walked back to his truck to wait for my Mum to finish with me so that he could drive her back to Kidder. I felt a wave of relief rush over me, but it soon faded when I turned to look at my Mum. She was sitting at the picnic table with silent tears falling from her eyes while she was reading something I had left behind.** _

_**As I approached her, she looked up and smiled asking, "Addy? Is that what you really want to do?"** _

_**I hadn't had a chance to talk about my decision with anyone other than Sister Mary Catherine, so it was difficult at first to put my feelings into words. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves and collect my thoughts before I said, "Yes Mum, it is. I haven't talked with them yet, but do you think that Maureen and Bill would agree to adopt the baby? Because I _ **…**_ they seem like the perfect choice."** _

_**As soon as I finished my sentence, my mum had jumped up to pull me into another bear hug, saying, "Oh Roo! I'm more than sure they will! You have such a beautiful soul my baby! I can't believe you want to do this for them." She pulled back and continued through tears of joy. "And you're SURE that's what you want to do?"** _

_" **Yes Mum… I'm more than sure. I mean… it's what was meant to be. I was going to call them later today to talk to them about it, but I wasn't sure they would _ **…**_ I mean I just really needed to hear someone else say it was the right thing to do."**_

_" **Do you want me to stay while you call them?"**_

_**I shook my head and declined her offer, saying, "No, that's alright Mum. I think this is something I have to do myself. But thank you, I appreciate the offer. I love you so much."** _

_**She pulled me back into her tight embrace. "I'm so proud of you. I love you more than you can know. Call me if you need me, okay my little Roo?" She pinched my nose like she used to when I was five.** _

_**Playfully swatting her hand away, I blushed and said, "Muuummm." Then more seriously, "You know that I will. Thank you so much Mum."** _

"Lay? Is this the right spot?" Dean asked as he pulled up behind an ivy covered brick building.

"Huh? Oh…yeah…yeah, the dormitory is just up over there." I pointed to a building similar to the one in front of us to our left. "Just park anywhere around here where you can find a spot."

Once we were parked, Dean opened my door and helped me out of the back seat. "You were a million miles away the whole ride. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry. I just got lost in all the happy memories I have here." I smiled as he took my hand to go and meet Sam at the trunk.

"As long as they're happy memories," he quietly confirmed.

"Here? Yeah, they are most definitely happy, I swear. Stop worrying so much about me," I said and gave him a gentle kiss on the lips.

Sam had already retrieved most of the weapons we would need and had thrown them into a duffle bag. As he was closing the trunk he said, "So I figure we stick together until we get inside, then we can split up. Sound good?"

Before Dean and I could respond, we all heard a voice behind us said, "Adelaide Jones! Is that you?"

I turned to see who had called my name and took a step towards the 60 year old nun, saying, "Yes, Sister Maria. It's me."

She pulled me into a hug. "Darling, it's been too long." Then she pushed me back a bit so that she could scrutinize the woman that stood before her. "You're looking well. I trust that you've been taking care of yourself and keeping out of trouble." She finished with her trademark 'you better not try to lie to me young lady' look.

"Yes ma'am, I've been keeping out of trouble," I lied skillfully. I had reasoned with myself a long time ago that for all intents and purposes it wasn't that bad for me to be untruthful with the nuns, so long as it kept them from knowing about the other part of my life, which would keep them safe.

"And who are these two young men with you?" She asked, looking around me at the two brothers.

They both walked towards us. Sam extended his hand out and said, "I'm Addy's friend Sam."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Sam."

Dean wrapped his left arm around my waist and I could feel myself immediately tense up. I felt like a shy teenager who was introducing her boyfriend to the family for the first time. He extended his right hand and started saying, "I'm his brother Dean…"

Before he could continue, Sister Maria interrupted saying, "And you are close to our Adelaide?" She eyed him up and down suspiciously.

He unwrapped his arm as she squeezed his hand tightly, straightened his stance and said politely, "Yes ma'am I am."

She smiled, still gripping his hand tightly, and said, "That's wonderful!" As she pulled him into a hug she continued, "She's very dear to all of us. You better take care of her and make sure to do nothing to hurt her, young man."

Dean swallowed nervously, "Yes ma'am, I'll be good to her."

Sam was nearly doubling over in laughter as Sister Maria released Dean from her death grip. The Sister then turned her attention back to me and smiled warmly while asking, "So, Adelaide, what brings you back here?" She wrapped an arm around my waist.

Dean walked over to stand by Sam and Sam whispered through gasps of laughter, "Dude, you so just got threatened by a nun!"

Dean punched him in the arm and ordered in a hushed tone, "Shut up Sam!"

During the brothers' exchange, I had explained to Sister Maria that I was finally taking some down time that I had with my boyfriend to introduce him to my family. She already knew that I considered everyone at the convent as part of my family, so she understood that was why I would bring him here. Also, I admitted to her that I was long overdue for a visit to Sister Mary Catherine's final resting place which helped to keep her from pressing me for any further details.

As the brothers approached, I was tactfully trying to ask her about any newcomers or strange incidents over the past week, but for some reason I didn't think I was being as subtle as I had hoped to be.

"Oh Adelaide, how I missed your whit. No darling, we're still just the quiet little convent that you remember. It's been lovely seeing you again. Have fun showing your friends around. Be sure to visit us soon because we've all missed you so." The older nun chuckled, gave me a hug and then headed towards the pathway marked 'To the chapel'.

I waved then shook my head. I smiled and muttered mostly to myself, "I swear she thinks I'm nuts."

Dean took my hand and asked, "So nothing out of the norm happening here?"

"No, nothing weird. But she did mention a few changes that have happened here in the last 12 years. The most interesting one being that the old visitor's dormitory is no longer being used."

"So Lucifer could be in there without anyone knowing?" Sam asked.

I shrugged and replied, "If he's able to keep everything quiet, I don't see why anyone would notice him if he was hanging out there."

 _ZZZ ZZZZ_ Sam jumped a little at the vibration of his phone. "Hey Bobby. Uh huh… okay… yeah… Got it. Thanks." He hung up to meet mine and Dean's anticipating gazes. "So they know the 'when' now."

"And?" Dean and I asked in unison.

"Well… Bobby was really annoyed with himself because he spent all day researching and translating to find out that there is no specific day for the ritual. It just has to occur at dawn." He said as we made our way to the abandoned building that used to be the dormitory.

"So the ritual could have happened already?" I asked tentatively while trying to hide the quiver in my voice.

"Bobby doesn't think it has. There would have been a pretty big light display during the ritual and you confirmed with the Sister that nothing out of the ordinary has happened as of yet ," he said while giving me a reassuring smile.

Dean squeezed my hand lovingly and said, "We'll find him, Lay. Just stay positive."

"I'm trying…I swear, I'm trying."

At the door of the deserted dormitory, we each decided to take one of the three levels. I took the top level, Dean took the main level and Sam took the basement. The top and main floors have rooms on one side of the hallway and a wall of windows on the other. The simplicity of the layout made searching the rooms quite easy and I soon met Dean on the main floor after finding nothing but empty rooms under a thick layer of dust.

"How'd you do Dean?" I asked feeling beyond disappointed.

"I found this," he said with a hopeful tone as he held up a black Bible with 'A.J.' inscribed in silver on the front bottom right hand corner.

"That's sweet Dean, but it's not mine. Those were given to the nuns when they completed their schooling. I don't even know who that would belong to."

"Oh," he said while tossing the Bible onto a stray chair. "I thought…"

"I know what you thought," I said, chuckling softly. "Anyway, my room was upstairs. And even if I did leave anything behind _ **…**_ well it wouldn't be there _ **…**_ "

"So then we found nothing."

"Maybe Sam is having better luck."

"Sorry guys, nothing but old furniture in a huge room down there," Sam said from behind us.

Sam came over to the spot where Dean and I were standing. I stared out a window over-looking where we parked the Impala and asked, "Now what? Now where could he be? Where else can we look?"

Dean approached me saying, "Maybe he's being kept somewhere else on the grounds. We only know that this is where the rituals will have to happen. I guess it was a bit of a long shot to believe they'd be keeping him here too."

Still staring out the window I said, "I guess you're right. So where do we look next?"

"Did the Sister tell you about any other empty buildings?" Sam asked.

I shook my head and bit my lip, frustrated that tears were falling. "No," I said. "But looking out this way, it looks like they are using a new chapel." I turned to look at the brothers and the tears that rested on my chin, explaining in an unnervingly even tone, "The chapel I attended while I was here was behind this building." I nodded towards the side of the building the rooms were on.

Dean grabbed my hand with his right and smoothed my hair with his left and stated, "Then we'll look there next. Why don't you take us there?"

"Okay," I said as I lead Dean silently by the hand out the main entrance as Sam trailed behind.

The old chapel was quite small and in disrepair. Many of the wooden shutters were hanging limply on single hinge and one of the stained-glass windows had shattered. I frowned at the peeling paint and faded wood, saying, "The place use to be so beautiful." I looked at Dean in the eyes, "Do you think that you could handle this without me? I _ **…**_ I _ **…** _ I really just need to visit an old friend right now." I nodded towards the small cemetery to the right of the dilapidated chapel. In my gut I knew this building would be empty too, so I felt no guilt at leaving the brothers to search it without me. It was too quiet for anyone to be inside the small one story building.

"Yeah, no problem. Take your time. I'll call you if we find anything," Dean said softly as he pulled me into a hug.

I left them to do their work and walked over to the familiar headstone. At first I just stood in front of it, shifting my weight from one foot to another for more than a minute before I leaned over and wiped some leaves off that had covered her name. Finally I said out loud, "I'm so sorry I've been away so long, but I just… well to be honest I just couldn't bring myself to come back here knowing that _ **…**_ knowing that _ **…**_ I failed you, terribly. Sydney and I were never able to find that middle ground that I had promised you we would work to find. And now…" I broke into sobs. "And now I've lost Toby… He's been stolen from them and I don't know what to do…"

I fell to my knees and put my right hand on the engraved name of one of my oldest and dearest friend. "I really wish you were here to help. I just… I just don't know… I… I can't… I… I miss you so much." I then let the tears flow freely as I caressed the granite.

After a few minutes I was finally able to get the emotions this environment evoked under control. Since the worst of my breakdown was over, I brushed off a as much of the debris I had accumulated on jeans as I could with just my hands and sat down cross-legged in front of the gravestone. I wiped my eyes with the back of my thumbs and laughed softly, "So… umm…Dean's here with me…I know you would tell me that I'm not really alone and that he is here to help me. I know I know… but still… Man I wish you could have met him and Sam.  They're… well don't tell them I said it but they're pretty awesome and I… I think you'd really like them."

I sat in silence for a while and then I felt a hand on my shoulder and nearly fell over from surprise. Dean helped me to my feet, apologizing as he brushed off the leaves from my legs and behind, "Sorry Lay. I really didn't mean to scare you."

I smiled softly and caught his hand as we brushed at the same leaf, "That's okay. I guess I was lost in my own thoughts there for a bit."

Dean looked over at the granite headstone as he hugged me, saying "I'm sorry I didn't get to meet her."

"Yeah, me too," I said. As I pulled out of his arms I saw defeat in his eyes. "It's okay. I had a feeling he wasn't in there." Then my chin started to tremble again as I tearfully asked, "He's not here is he?"

Dean shook his head and quietly said, "No, it doesn't look like it. I don't know where else he could be."

"There's nowhere else. At least nowhere else here where he could be concealed without someone noticing by now."

Dean hugged me tight. "I'm so sorry Lay. I guess that means that we're back to square one."


	13. And though it might flower

I was so stunned by our realizing that Toby wasn't anywhere at the convent that I could barely move or breathe. I don't know how, but somehow I found myself wrapped in Dean's arms in the backseat of the Impala. Sam was once again behind the wheel as we drove home in relative silence. As we approached a diner, Sam asked if we wanted to stop. My stomach was twisted into knots and I knew I wouldn't be able to eat, so I shook my head against Dean's chest without moving any other part of my body.

"It's probably better if we just head straight to Lay's Sammy," Dean answered for both of us, even though he was feeling a few hunger pangs that he was going to force himself to ignore.

Mercifully, the drive home passed quickly. I'm sure that given the uncomfortable silence, Sam broke more than a few of the posted speed limits, but neither of us in the back were going to complain.

As soon as he slipped the car into park at the rear of my house, I went into autopilot. I pushed myself off of Dean's chest, opened the door and practically sprinted to my room, not even stopping to greet Maureen, Bill or Bobby. Once in my room, I changed into a pair of over-sized men's flannel pajamas, placed my mom's pendant on the lamp where I found it, let my hair fall loose and crawled into bed. I was beyond emotionally spent and couldn't put on a brave face any longer, at least not for the rest of today. We had no more leads, we had no more clues and I was almost out of hope. So with all of that on my mind, I finally succumbed to my unconscious desire to curl into a ball and cry.

When Sam and Dean got to the kitchen, Maureen was still at the doorway to the living room, watching my invisible path to my room.

"So you didn't find anything?" Bobby asked, forcing everyone out of their thoughts.

Sam and Dean joined him and Bill at the table, Maureen remained standing by the door.

"No, nothing. The place was completely clean," Sam said.

"What are we missing here, Bobby?" Dean asked, completely exhausted.

"I don't know son," Bobby said softly. "That seemed like the most likely place to find him. I'll keep digging."

"Is there something else we can do?" Dean asked hoping that someone would they could figure out something because he hated the thought of me losing hope. If I completely lost hope, he might too and then it would be more difficult to move forward. "It sounds like we know everything we need to know about the ritual, but isn't there another way to FIND him?"

"What do you mean son?" Bobby asked, sounding confused about the direction that Dean wanted to take the search. "Do you mean like a spell or something?"

"I don't know…maybe. Could we try that?"

"I'd have to check to see if we have the supplies, but yeah, I think we could try that," Bobby said.

"It's late boys," Maureen finally said. " And it's obviously been a hard day for you and our Adelaide. Maybe you should sleep tonight and take it up tomorrow."

Bobby was once again quick to agree, "Maureen's right boys. You look exhausted, go get some rest and we'll go over the details in the morning."

When I heard my door open and close, followed by a soft thud of a bag being put on the ground, I rolled over to see what was happening behind me.

"Hope you're okay with having company tonight. Sam's taking the guest room so that Bill and Mo can sleep in the master bedroom. We figured it'd be better if they both spent the night here," Dean said softly while standing beside the bed.

I just stayed laying on my side staring at him with tears dripping off my chin. I still wasn't ready to speak because I knew I wouldn't be able to keep my voice from breaking.

"Or… I could just go out to the garage, if you rather be alone," he said as he slowly turned towards my bedroom door.

"No, Dean. I don't mind the company. Please. Stay," I finally said while I shifted more to the right side of the bed.

He quickly slipped into a t-shirt and boxers, feeling relieved to finally shed the costume he had worn all day and crawled under the covers, saying, "Thank God because I think I'm too tired to make it out there."

I was on my right side looking at him as he lay on his left side. While we were staring at each other I tried my best to apologize, "I'm so sorry I just took off like that. I just couldn't face them and tell them that we aren't any closer to finding their son. I… I just couldn't you know?"

"It's okay Lay," Dean held my hand. "We think me might have another way to find him."

Through my tears I asked with a small hint of hope. "Really? What?"

"Shhh… first we rest and then we'll talk about it in the morning," he said while he smoothed my hair, but let me take the lead for any further intimacy.

As my tears faded, I ran my left hand over the side of Dean's face and touched his lips with my index finger, "Have I thanked you lately for being so wonderful?"

I leaned in to kiss him. I meant it to be a soft kiss, but it turned into a much more passionate embrace. Dean pulled me into him to show his deepened enthusiasm. After a few minutes, he pulled back from our make out session to say, "No, you haven't, but feel free to show me your appreciation anytime." He smiled again and again smoothed my hair with a hand before kissing me. His embrace was much softer than my previous show of intimacy.

"Well… Thank you. I don't know how I would have made it through the day without you… and Sam. You have just been amazing. I mean considering…"

He put a finger to my lips, halting my ability to say anything further. However, instead of offering the usual heroic speech about it being his job to do whatever he could, he kissed me, much more deeply this time. He then said, "Of course I'm here."

I pulled his lips to mine again and we continued to kiss for a while, but neither of us attempted to take it any further. Although, I did somehow manage to maneuver our position so that Dean was lying on his back and I was lying on top of him.

After what felt like an hour, I pulled out of our and embrace and took in the man before me. Every feature of his face seemed to fascinate me and I traced the lines of his face with my right index finger before running my other hand through his hair. I allowed a smile to spread across my face as he closed his eyes and sunk deeper into the palm of my hand as my hand went through his hair.

 _I forgot that was the spot_ , I thought to myself as I massaged his scalp slightly.

"Lay," he moaned under my touch.

"Yes Dean?" I said into his ear was my right hand joined my left to massage the other side of his scalp.

He had completely surrendered to my hands and moaned again. I smiled wider as I watched all of the tension disappear from his face. With his eyes closed, he looked so peaceful and serene. I lowered my face again to his and kissed him softly.

"Oh God Lay, that's amazing," he groaned.

I rolled off him and cuddled into his side. I rubbed my hand in a circular motion on his chest, saying affectionately, "Well, like I said. Thank you for keeping me somewhat sane."

He kissed the top of my head that was resting on his heart and said, "You are more than welcome. We should rest up now for tomorrow. We've got a lot of work ahead of us."

"Too much," I sighed softly.

"No Lay, it's not too much. If we all stick together, we CAN get through this," he gently pulled my face up to rest beside his in an attempt to look me in the eyes. "We'll just take it one step at a time."

I bit my lower lip and nodded, "Okay… one step at a time."

I then rolled onto my left side so that he could hold me close to his chest again. Just like the night before, our bent positions matched the others perfectly and without another word we drifted asleep.

_**"Addy! Addy! Did you see that?!" An excited voice called from behind me.** _

_**I turned from the parents that I had been talking with beside the stands at the local ball park and straightened the black ball cap on the small head that appeared behind me.** _

_**"Sure did Buddy! You've been working on your stance and it shows!" I praised cheerfully.** _

_**"Yeah! Dad set up a batting cage just like you said," Toby said excitedly. "Did you see how far it went?"** _

_**"Sure did! Couldn't miss that if I tried!" I pulled him into a hug. "You'll be a starter by next season if you keep practicing like you have!"** _

_**Toby released himself from my grasp and looked around at the dwindling crowd.** _

_**"Mom and dad aren't here?" he asked sounding somewhat disappointed.** _

_**"Sorry Buddy. You're dad got stuck in the field planting and your mom is still feeling under the weather. She tried to come but she could barely get out of bed so I made sure she was comfortable so she could rest before I headed over here."** _

_**"So she's feeling worse now, huh?" He looked up with a small glint in his eye.** _

_**"Yeah, Tobs, her cold has gotten worse. What are you thinking?"** _

_**"Well… I've saved my allowance for a while and I know mom loves lilies… Addy do you think you could help me pick out a bouquet for her?"** _

_**"Of course I could Toby. You are such a sweetheart!" I exclaimed and pulled him close again.** _

_**"ADDEEE!" He said. Apparently THIS show of affection embarrassed him in front of his teammates.** _

_**I separated from him and solemnly apologized saying, "Sorry Toby."** _

_**Then I took off his hat and mussed his hair.** _

_**"It's okay," he quietly said and blushed.** _

_**"Why don't we head over to Neely's before she closes to get those flowers for your mom. And you keep your allowance. We'll just tell your mom that they're from you."** _

_**"Really?!"** _

_**I nodded.** _

_**"You're the best Addy!" He cried out before he tore off to the passenger side of my GTO.** _

_**I laughed to myself and called out after him, "Wait up Toby! Don't take off without me!"** _

I woke up and it was still quite dark and I found myself still wrapped in Dean's arms. I carefully extracted myself from his warm hug to find my phone to check the time.

"Hey. What time is it?" Dean sleepily asked from his spot on the bed.

I pulled my phone out of my jeans' pocket saying, "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

As I looked at the white numbers on my phone, my heart sank; we had only been asleep for an hour and a half.

"It's only midnight," I said crawling back into bed. "Go back to sleep."

He had rolled onto his back while I was out of bed and he said, "But it's so cold over here."

I smiled to myself and cuddled in close to his body, placing my head on his shoulder.

"So, what were you dreaming about?" He asked while combing my hair with his fingers.

My tears wet his t-shirts before I started to speak. "Toby. Last summer he played his best game of the season. Bill and Maureen had to miss it because Maureen was stuck at home in bed, sick with a terrible cold. And he had the kindest heart because he immediately forgot his mammoth home run that won the game and tried to think of ways to make his mom feel better. He even wanted to by her some of her favorite flowers and make soup so that she would get over her cold. His focus turned into just making her happy and totally forgot about himself."

Dean was now running his hand up and down my arm in an attempt to comfort me while he continued to hold me close to his chest.

"My world just feels so incomplete without him, Dean. I never thought that I would say that… but knowing that he's not in his bed right now… I never knew that I could feel this way. God it just… I feel so empty it hurts." Despite my best efforts, my tears started to flow freely.

"That's what happens when you love someone unconditionally, Lay," he said softly, running his fingers through my hair.

I wiped my eyes and nose with my sleeve. "I guess I'm just not used to being on this side of the situation. I just took for granted that he'd always be safe with them. I never thought… "

"He'll be safe again with them soon. Now, try to get some rest, okay? For me? Please."

I lift my head to try to see his face in the dark, but was unable make out his features. Since I couldn't make eye contact, my lips found his before I said, "You too."

_**"Addy! ADD-DEE!" My mum called from the backdoor.** _

_**"Yeah mum?" I called back, extracting myself from the garden just beyond the pool and its deck.** _

_**"Why don't you come in now? The clouds are rolling in and dinner should be ready soon."** _

_**"Okay mum! Just give me a minute to put everything away and I'll be right in!" I then gathered all of my tools and seeds to put them back in the canvas bag that I carry them in and returned them to the potting table in the small gardening shed by the entrance to the garden.** _

_**When I walked into the kitchen, I was covered in dirt from head to toe and explained to my mum, "I got the vervain and angelica root planted. Once the weather clears again I promise I'll get the rest done too, so that you don't have to worry about it."** _

_**"That's fine honey. Why don't you go get washed up now? On your way upstairs, could you let the men pouring over research in the living room know that dinner will be ready in about 20 minutes?"** _

_**"Men?" I asked sounding thoroughly confused because I didn't hear anyone drive up with dad. "Who's here with dad?" I asked as I walked towards the doorway, but stopped just before I got there, eagerly anticipating my mum's response.** _

_**"Oh, I forgot. Your dad ran into the Winchesters on his last hunt. They will be staying here for a bit working on some leads."** _

_**"Really?!" I asked with a tone that exhibited more excitement than I meant to show. "I mean…uh…that's cool."** _

_**My mum walked up behind me and wrapped her arms around my waist. "I thought you could heat up one of your pies for dessert. Which one is Dean's favorite again?" She teased quietly into my ear with her chin on my shoulder.** _

_**"Muumm…" I blushed and whined. "How would I know?"** _

_**"Oh yeah, that's right. You don't really like him anyway, do you?" She continued to tease as she winked and went back to preparing dinner.** _

_**I took a few deep breaths to calm my nerves and attempted to get the butterflies in my stomach to stop fluttering. I looked down at my hands; dirt was encrusted on them and was embedded under nearly every nail. Why didn't I wear gloves? "I must look so gross," I said quietly to myself.** _

_**I sprinted through the living to get to the stairs. Once I was confident that I was out of range for them to be able to see me near the top of the stairs, I shouted down, "Dad! Mum says dinner in 20 minutes! Hi John! Hey Dean!"** _

_**Then I ran to the bathroom and showered. I went into my room with a towel wrapped around my head and another around my body. I dressed as quickly as I could despite my hands shaking nervously in a pair of tight faded jeans and a form fitting light weight black v-neck sweater. I towel dried my hair and let it hang loose, falling to the middle of my back. I finished by applying a small amount of make up to accentuate my hazel eyes.** _

_**"Ok Addy… you're looking good… let's do this," I encouraged myself out loud before heading back downstairs.** _

_**Once I got back to the living room, dad and the Winchesters were closing their books and mum was moving between the kitchen and the formal dining room, carrying the food.** _

_**"Adelaide, grab John and I a beer, would ya?" My dad asked without turning around after hearing me come downstairs.** _

_**"Sure dad," I said as I continued into the kitchen, not making eye contact with any of the three in the living room.** _

_**"Need help with anything mum?"** _

_**She was entering the kitchen from the dining room. "No, Roo. Everything's ready."** _

_**I opened the fridge and didn't find what I was looking for. "Uh, mum? Where's the beer?"** _

_**"Oh your dad forgot to bring it in from the garage fridge. Would you mind running out and grabbing it?"** _

_**I looked outside and the rain was falling pretty hard now. "Sure."** _ **There goes my hairdo… oh well, he wouldn't even notice anyway.**

_**As I was grabbing my raincoat and boots, I heard a voice behind me ask, "Running away again Addy?"** _

_**I looked up from pulling on my boots and saw Dean smiling at me from the doorway to the living room.** _

_**"No I'm not running away again," I shot him a playful glare. "Just grabbing the beer from the garage."** _

_**"Want some help?"** _

_**Inwardly beaming I tried to answer as nonchalantly as possible, "Sure…you know…if you wanted to or whatever."** _

_**He pulled on his leather jacket and we both ran down the stairs to the garage. I flipped on the light as I pulled off my hood.** _

_**"Fridge is right over here," I said and nodded to the right corner just beyond my GTO.** _

_**"Whoa! Nice car! Whose is it?" Dean whistled running his hand lovingly over the hood.** _

_**From the open door of the fridge, I looked over my shoulder and smiled saying, "Oh that's mine. Poppy gave it to me last week for my sweet sixteenth. I haven't had a chance to buy insurance yet, so it's stuck in here 'til I get that done."** _

_**I pulled out a couple of bottles and when I turned around to pass them to Dean, I almost rammed my face right into his chest because he was standing so close to me.** _

_**"Happy belated Birthday Addy." He looked intensely into my eyes. I could feel his breath on my skin and it caused a shiver to run down my spine.** _

_**"Uh, thanks Dean." I swallowed and felt my heartbeat quickening from his close proximity.** _

_**He took the bottles out of my hands to place them on the table beside the fridge, ran his fingers through my hair and smiled down at me. I held my breath hoping that is was leading to what I had dreamt about since his last visit. His smile grew wider as he lowered his lips to mine.** _

_**"Sorry I didn't get you a gift," he said after our first kiss.** _

_**I opened my eyes to look into his and said, "That was the best present I've ever gotten."** _

_**I reached my hands up to his face and kissed him again. His hands intertwined with my hair as we continued to kiss passionately.** _

_**BEEP! BEEP! I pulled back at the sound of Dean's watch announcing a new hour. I grabbed his wrist to double check how long we had been in the garage and cried out, "Crap! They're probably wondering where we are!" And then I added reluctantly, "We should probably head back in."** _

_**"Yeah, I guess we should." He smoothed my hair down and picked up the bottles I had already gotten out of the fridge.** _

_**I again went to the fridge to grab a few more bottles and passed him two more. This way we each had four.** _

_**"Okay, ready?" Dean asked with a sly smile.** _

_**I pull my hood back up and nodded before we ran back to the house.** _

_**Once there, we put six of the eight bottles in the fridge before joining our parents at the dining table.** _

_**"What took you two so long?" My dad asked as I put his beer down to the left of his plate.** _

_**"I…uh…wanted to restock the fridge out there too for you…"I said while making a mental note to do just that the next day.** _

_**"Oh…thanks," he said.** _

_**"So, John? What's the plan?" My mum quickly asked to change the subject.** _

_**"Well…he seems to be in Chickasaw County right now. It should be no trouble for us to make our way up there easily tomorrow."** _

_**"So it's in Iowa?" Dean asked. "What time do we leave tomorrow?"** _

_**"'We' don't son. You're going to be staying here to watch out for Addy while Syd, Vicki and I head out early."** _

_**"WHAT?!" We both exclaimed in mutual horror.  
** _

_**"I don't need a babysitter!" I said. In spite of my protest, I was forgetting that this exact plan meant that Dean and I would be left alone at the house until our parents got back.** _

_**"Addy…It's not like that," my mom calmly said, "If that thing decides to double back…well you shouldn't be here alone."** _

_**"So why can't you stay?" I asked through a whine.** _

_**"Because Roo, it seems to be going after women at the moment. They need me to go with them as bait. It just makes the most sense for me to accompany them and for Dean to stay here with you." She finished with a smile and a wink.** _

_**Suddenly the fact that this plan meant alone time with Dean at the house dawned on me and I sat back, smiled and finished my dinner saying, "Oh… Oh-o-kay…if you think it's best."** _

_**"Dad? Seriously! Why don't we just send her to Bobby's? Or the Connors?" Dean said. "It not fair that I can't be in on this!"** _

_**I was finished eating at this point, so I slammed my fork down, feeling hurt that Dean was fighting so hard to keep from spending time alone with me.** _

_**"Well like I said… I DON'T NEED A BABYSITTER! So just go… GO with them Dean! I don't want you here either!"** _

_**Then I got up and took my plate to the kitchen. Everyone just sat at the table a moment, stunned at my outburst. I put my plate in the dishwasher and then they heard me banging around the kitchen.** _

_**"I'll go talk to her. I think that I can get her to understand," my mum finally said as she shook her head in a tone of disappointment.** _

_**Dean reached out and touched her hand while standing with his dishes in another. "I'll go Vicki. I'm sorry, you guys were right, I'm sorry for arguing with you. I'll make her understand…Plus… I should clear the air with her if we're going to be here alone together… I don't want her to kill me in my sleep or anything." He finished with a half-hearted chuckle, knowing that I wouldn't hesitate to ruin him if he hurt me on purpose.** _

_**My mum laughed and let him take her plate, saying, "Thanks Dean."** _

_**Despite being furious with Dean, I had promised Mum that I would take care of preparing dessert, so he found me doing just that.** _

_**"Addy?" He said cautiously as he put their dishes in the washer.** _

_**"What?!" I snapped quickly. "It's fine! You don't want to stay here? Then fine! Don't! Just go! See if I care!"** _

_**"Addy…" he put his arms around my waist as I was reaching the plates down from the cupboard and said in my ear, "I DO want to stay here…ALONE…WITH you."** _

_**I put the plates on the counter and turned around so we were face to face. I gently pushed him back so I could look at him in the eye a bit better, saying, "But you said…"** _

_**"I know… I know. I want YOU to know that's what I want… I just don't want THEM to know." With his head he motioned to the dining room. "I don't think any of them would want to leave us here alone if either of us seems too eager."** _

_**I blushed, completely embarrassed by my childish outburst while meekly saying, "Oh… I hadn't thought of that."** _

_**He drew me into a hug asking, "So, we're good?"** _

_**"Yeah, we're good." I pulled out of his arms and smiled. "Why don't you head back in and I'll bring you your pie?"** _

_**He beamed and returned to the dining room without another word.** _

I woke up to the sun peeking into my room. I had rolled away from Dean and was on my left side. I reached for my phone from the nightstand beside my head and it read "0545". I figured we had at least an hour before the day would start. I then shifted to cuddle into Dean again, but found that he too had rolled over so that his back would be facing me. I then nuzzled my face into his neck and took in his scent.

"Mmm…is it time to get up?" He asked while rolling onto his back.

I slid my hand over his chest and put my head beside his while still on my right side and responded, "No… it's still early." After a slight pause, I said, "Why don't we just stay in bed today?"

Dean turned over so that he was on his left side facing me and he stroked my face with his hand and gave me a sad smile.

"I know… I know… we won't find him from bed," I said.

Dean then pulled me close into his arms and just held me as his response.


	14. Things will never be the same again

After about an hour, Dean and I heard Bill and Maureen leave their room as they quietly made their way downstiars. A few minutes later, we then heard Sam leave his, but I did want to leave the comfort of my bed and remained cuddled into Dean's chest.

"Ready to get up and start the day, Lay?" He asked into my hair.

I shook my head and said into his chest, "No, I still just want to stay in bed. If I stay here no other shitty things can happen to Bill and Mo."

Dean ignored my reply and rolled over and sat up on the edge of the bed before he began to riffled through his duffle bag. As he pulled out a fresh change of clothes he said with a teasing tone, "Well then I guess you don't want to hear about the new plan."

My head perked up a bit at that comment. He had stripped off the clothes he had slept in and was standing as he pulled on his jeans and t-shirt.

"No, no wait… I want to know," I said while looking up at him and batting my eyes.

He turned around as he buttoned up a black and white flannel top and said, "Well, I guess you'll have to get up and come down stairs to hear about it."

"But Dean…" I said playfully as I sat up and crossed my arms across my chest, adding as seductively as I could, "Why don't you tell me now and I'll make it worth your while?"

He walked over to my dresser and was going through the drawers to find something for me to change into ignoring myserious attempts at flirting.

"No deal Lay. You wanna hear about it, you put this on and you get your cute little tush downstairs." He finished by tossing a long sleeve baseball tee with red arms and a black body with a pair of jeans on my feet and legs.

I pouted and flashed him my best "wounded puppy" look in an attempt to get him to reconsider. "Come on Dean…"

For a second his face softened slightly, but then he shook his head and in a very firm, almost fatherly tone said, "Adelaide Victoria Jones, don't you try to use that look on me young lady."

"But Dean…" I patted the side of the bed that he had just vacated.

He shook his head and said, much more seriously, "Lay… I'll see you downstairs."

Then as he left the room, he turned and added in the same firm tone, "Don't make me have to come back up and get you."

After he left, I begrudgingly got out of bed and started to get dressed. I still wasn't totally prepared to face everyone downstairs, but I knew that I had to eventually and that there was no point delaying the inevitable.

When Dean walked into the kitchen, the scene was almost identical to the day before: Maureen was cooking (albeit less food than yesterday) and the three other men were sitting around the table eating.

As soon as Maureen saw Dean walk into the room she asked, "Oh Dean, how's Adelaide doing today? Did she sleep well? Is she hungry?"

He picked up a plate and started loading it up with the food that was laid out buffet style on the island and said, "She slept pretty well, considering the circumstances. But, I think she's still pretty depressed that we didn't find anything yesterday."

He then sat beside Sam and started to dig in.

"Well son, I think your suggestion yesterday could work," Bobby said in a hopeful tone. "I think I have almost everything I need and anything we don't have here can easily be found in town."

"So what was Dean's brilliant suggestion?" I asked from the doorway as all eyes turned to focus on me.

Maureen rushed over and gave me a huge hug. "Oh Adelaide! Did you sleep well darling?"

"As well as can be expected," I said. I held her cheeks in my hands and warmly continued, "You look like you slept better too."

"Oh, I did darling. Please, come, sit. I'll fix you a plate." She grabbed my right hand and led me to the table.

Dean flashed me a cocky grin between bites, obviously feeling smug that his plan worked.

I retaliated with a begrudging smile. In a mock annoyed tone I said to him, "Don't be such a FIGJAM."

Sam almost choked on the coffee he was drinking as he started to laugh. He apparently knew what the acronym stood for.

I then turned to Bobby and asked very earnestly, "Bobby, will you please tell me what Dean's plan is?"

"Oh sorry Koala Bear, I thought this idjit over here would have told you all about it." He finished his response by smacking Dean in the back of the head.

"Hey!" Dean retorted with the utmost annoyance in his voice..

Bobby ignored his protest and said, "Dean here actually came up with a good suggestion yesterday and I found a locator spell. He figured we might be able to pin point where Toby is being held that way. I have pretty much everything I need except for a few herbs, a map of the area and some candles."

"Hmm…well I know we've never had a map of town here at the house… and candles… hmmm… did you look in the dining room?"

Maureen and Bill nodded and frowned. Maureen then said, "Yes we did and there were none."

"Okay," I said. "So… no candles. Good thing we haven't had a power outage. I'll drive into town after breakfast and get those for you. Ooh, while I'm there, I'll pop by the sheriff's office too and check out what Don's come up with so far."

"Sounds good, Koala Bear. I'll make you a list of everything I'm missing."

I looked up to smile at Bobby and caught Dean's cocky grin again instead.

"Seriously Dean, stop it! I would have come down eventually!"

"Uh huh…sure," he said. "Whatever you need to tell yourself."

"Sam, how would you feel about being an only child? Because you know I've always found that it worked well for me." I asked while trying to ignore Dean's comment.

Sam laughed as he finished his mouthful of food then said, "I'm not touching that one with a ten foot pole. You two can duke this out on your own later."

"Geez thanks a lot for the support Sammy. Some brother you are," Dean said in a half-serious tone.

"Hey! I've heard what she can do, I'm not dumb enough to cross her," Sam defended himself with a chuckle.

"Any word from your angel about new revelations regarding the ritual?" I asked in an attempt to get us all back to business.

"No, nothing. None of us have seen him since we left him at Bill and Mo's the other night. But, I'm sure he'll pop in when he finds anything new."

I furrowed my brow and cut into my pancakes saying, "So no news is good news then."

"Usually," Dean said as he squeezed my knee encouragingly under the table.

Bobby had finished eating most of his breakfast before I had come downstairs, so he made his shopping list while I finished my food.

"Okay, that should be everything that we'll need," he said as he passed the list to me.

I was finishing my last bite of pancakes when he handed the piece of paper to me. I looked over the list and said, "Mmmm Bobby, I should have all of these herbs in the garden. They're all marked, I could…"

"I'll take care of that for you," Sam quickly said.

"Thanks Sam," I said and passed the ingredients list to him.

Maureen had already started to clear my plate, so I got up to get my jacket to head into town. Dean beat me there and started to help me into my jacket saying, "Okay, so are we ready to go then?"

"Huh? Pardon? Umm… you're coming with me?" I asked, somewhat taken aback and stunned.

"Well I thought that you would want some company while you go to town. I guess I was wrong," he said sounding kind of hurt and surprised.

I noticed how wounded he looked at my reaction, so I was to to aplogize, "Sorry Dean. I would really love your company, but I don't think that would be the best idea."

"What? Why not?" He sounded more confused as he caught me exchanging worried looks with Bill and Maureen. While looking between the three of us, he continued by asking, "Why not? Come on, what aren't you guys telling me?"

I led him by the hand back to the table and sat him down before saying, "Well Dean… uh, it's probably not the best idea that you come because…well the sheriff really doesn't… he really doesn't like you."

"He doesn't like me? But I haven't done anything to him."

I sat across from him and couldn't help but chuckle before continuing, "Uh, yeah you technically haven't done anything to him, but umm… do you remember that guy in my class who really liked me? Uh… I think you called him 'Dweeby Don'?"

Dean laughed softly as he remembered the person to whom I referred. "Ha! Yeah! I remember him."

"Well… 'Dweeby Don' grew up to become 'Sheriff Don'. When I was pregnant, he really wanted to take care of me, but I wouldn't let him because… Well…  anyways, I was convinced that you were going to come back and when you didn't I got really upset and he in turn got really mad at me. He was so angry with my faith in you that he refused to speak to me until after Toby was born."

Maureen was now standing behind me with her hands on my shoulders, while I held both of Dean's hands in my own.

Maureen then continued the story, "When everyone in town saw Bill and me with our new baby son, they all knew right away what our Adelaide had done for us and all was forgiven."

"But only for her? They all hate me?" Dean asked sounding so upset.

"No Dean," I said him. "Pretty much everyone else hasn't given you a second thought… hell no one here really knows who fathered their son, so they can't really hate someone they don't know. Honestly it's just Don. He always had a crush on me and has never forgiven you for owning my heart." I tried to give him a strong smile, but I was unsure if my words were helping to ease his pain at all.

"Oh," he finally said as he nodded. "So I guess if I was there he'd be pretty distracted then."

I laughed softly under my breath and said, "Yeah, you could put it that way."

"Okay…I guess I'll stay here then. I don't want to make this all any harder on you than it has to be."

I gave him a sincere smile and walked around the table to give him a hug. "Thanks Dean. I appreciate that."

Dean and Sam then walked me out to my car on their way to the garden to pick the ingredients that Bobby required for the spell.

"Drive safe. Call me if you need anything," Dean said as he gave me a tight hug.

"You know I will," I said as I hugged him back.

Then just before I got into my car, I heard Dean ask Sam, "Dude, what the hell is a 'FIGJAM'?"

I saw Sam's shoulders shake as he laughed then explained to his brother that I was basically calling Dean a cocky jerk because it stands for "Fuck I'm Good Just Ask Me".

On the drive in I decided to stop at the sheriff's office first. I was hoping that I would find something, anything that they may have missed in their notes of the police report. I was thankful to see the sheriff's Tahoe parked in its designated spot. To my relief, I now knew that Don would be there for me to talk to because I really didn't want to have to stop on my way home. I knew full well that once I had the portion of the ingredients that Bobby needed for the locator spell that I would just want to get home so that we could finally find where he had been taken.

After I opened the door and stepped into the building, I was immediately greeted warmly by the office assistant/secretary as she said, "Hey Addy! How are you holding up?" The bubbly blond 29 year old ran around the desk to pull me into a hug. "How are Bill and Mo? Don and I stopped by their place yesterday, but it didn't look like anyone was home."

While she was still holding me tight I said, "We're all doing okay, thanks Veronica. Bill and Maureen have been staying at my place to… you know, make things easier."

"Oh of course they would! That totally makes sense!" She stepped back and I was finally able to get a good look at the petite woman. She still had the looks of the stereotypical head cheerleader who feuded with me throughout our high school years for reasons still unbeknownst to me, but all those issues seemed to be resolved after graduation.

"Oh my goodness! It looks like I owe you and Don my congratulations," I said as I unconsciously grabbed her pregnant belly.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot that you didn't know. You've been away for too long Addy!" She good-naturedly replied, "I'm five months along now. We're finally starting that family we've always wanted." She was absolutely glowing as she rubbed her belly.

"Well congratulations again. Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?"

She looked around the seemingly empty office before bringing her right index finger to her lips. She then whispered, "Don doesn't know yet, but…" She pulled open her drawer to reveal a tiny Chicago Cubs jersey and I could only assume that was her way of telling me she was having a boy. I personally would have bought a jersey like that for someone no matter if it was a boy or a girl because I was never one to subscribe to gender stereotypes like most people did.

As we smiled at each other, we heard a door handle click behind us. Veronica slammed the drawer shut and whipped around and said, "Hey Don! Look who's here!"

The sheriff's face look very serene and full of loving concern as he greeted me, "Hey Addy. I'm so sorry… I don't really have anything new to tell you. But why don't you come in so we can talk?" His focus remained fixed on me during the greeting even though his wife was beaming so brightly that she almost looked like a homing beacon that was securely locked on her husband.

I gave Veronica another quick hug and promised something about getting together soon to swap "war stories" before stepping into Don's office.

"Can I get you anything?" He offered as soon as the door was closed.

"No, thank you, I'm fine." I took a seat in front of his desk. "I'm sorry to just drop in like this, but I was kind of hoping that maybe…"

Don passed me a manila folder off of his desk causing my thoughts to trail off.

"Addy, do you really think you owe me an explanation? I thought you would have been by here yesterday to look that over," he interrupted with a warm smile on his face.

"Oh, well we… I was taking care of Mo and Bill and…" I was stumbling horribly over my words trying to think up a lie even though the truth would have been more than accepted by the man in front of me.

"It's okay Addy," he said as he chuckled cheerfully. "You really don't have to justify yourself to me. I just meant that I anticipated you wanting to read the file. Just take your time. I'll grab you a coffee… just a touch of cream, right?"

"Yeah, thanks." I refocused my attention on the file in my lap and started reading it as I said, "Oh… and congratulations Don."

He stopped cold in his tracks and reacted as if I had I had smacked him in the back of the head.

"She told you," he asked quietly, almost sounding stunned.

"It's kind of hard not to notice, Don. She's pretty round and all." I finally looked up from the folder and gave him a warm smile.

His face then softened and he smiled saying, "Thanks Addy. I'll be right back with your coffee."

My attention quickly turned back to the folder and I was so engrossed with the paperwork in front of me; I think I mumbled a "Thank you".

In the four years that Don had been in the Sheriff's office, he had gotten very used to me wanting to look over the case files for any abductions or strange deaths. He stopped asking questions about my 'hobby', as he called it, three years ago when I helped find his sister. She had been abducted and I helped rescue her from the coven of vampires that sired Jax before they could turn her. I made myself comfortable and ready to do my research by pulling a pen out of the cup on the desk and slid a blank pad of paper off the edge of the of the desk so that I could start taking notes.

After I had the page half filled, Don returned with the coffee. He placed it on the desk saying, "Here Ads." Then he went around and sat on the other side in his chair.

Without looking up from my notes, I started questioning him about his report. "It says here that you found a pendant on the bus?"

"Yeah, it was a rose cared out of stone. I wish I could show it to you Ads, but ummm…it's gone missing," he meekly replied.

"Oh." _Uncle Bill must have stolen it before heading to the bar._ I smiled to myself then said, "That's no problem. A necklace is a necklace, right? So… What about the driver? She just 'woke up' behind the wheel at the end of her route? She didn't remember driving the kids home?"

"That's how she described it. Toby is usually her last drop off before she heads back to the school to park the bus. It's the same thing every school day… except for the day before yesterday. Instead she says she woke up to the smell of rotting eggs, just down the road from the Henderson's place."

"Huh… was there anything else strange about the day? Or her route?"

"No, not really. Although…I had originally thought that Toby's bag had been torn off his back by the abductor, but his teacher is pretty sure that he just left it behind accidentally. She said that the strap has been broken for a while, so he got in the habit of leaving it on the ground when waiting for the bus while chatting with all of his school mates. I don't know if that's at all helpful, but I think it's the only new information I have for you."

"The strap was already broken?" He said. "But why didn't Auntie Mo fix it for him?"

"Bill said that Toby wouldn't let her fix it. Apparently the strap broke the day he was named to the starting lineup."

We both shared a knowing smile.

"Superstition," I said.

He nodded and said, "That's what Bill said. Toby thought you would be proud."

Don grabbed a tissue from a box on his desk, walked around to sit on a chair beside me and gingerly patted the tears that were dribbling down my checks.

"He really looks up to you Addy and he loves you so much. I think he just wanted to do what he thought you would do." He huffed out a laugh then added, "You and I both know you and I both know he took it as a good omen Ads, why else wouldn't he have fixed it?"

I just stared at him as he spoke and wiped my tears away. When a smile spread across as my memories of Toby flooded my mind, Don took it as an invitation and he leaned in to kiss me because he thought that he was the one causing the euphoric look on my face.

"Dean," I said.

He sat up straight and away from as he glared at me, asking through a nasty sneer, "Who?"

"Dean… and Sam. I need to tell them about this," I finally managed to say as my head felt like it was coming out of a fog.

"He's here? Back in Kidder? Does he know…?"

"Yes, he's here. And yes, he knows everything… about Toby. That's basically the reason why he stayed in town. He and his brother are helping me find him." I got up to leave, saying softly, "I'm sorry Don if I… I should go. Umm… I'm so sorry… uh… Congratulations again…" I had the door open at this time. "…to you and Veronica. Please… let me know if you hear anything new."

Then I turned and left as quickly as I could. Luckily Veronica was away from her desk, so my escape route was clear. I got to my car and took a deep breath behind the steering wheel.

_Don still has feelings for me? Oh God! Is that why Veronica hated me during high school? Oh God…oh man I…_

"You have to get the supplies Addy. And then you have to find Toby. That's what you HAVE to do. The rest of this shit can wait." I finally said to my reflection in the rear view mirror just before I slipped my car into reverse and continued to the General Store to get the supplies Bobby needed.

Whenever I was out on the road, small towns and their charm fascinated me. On one hand they were great because all you had to do was find one person that loved to talk about their hometown and you basically all the background information you needed for a hunt. But on the other hand, the majority of people in a small town had a strong instinct to protect their own. That could prove tricky as an outsider because if you ask too many questions, you could raise suspicions very quickly and make the investigation that much harder on yourself.

Now, when it's your own hometown that you're dealing with, there's a whole new set of complications. There was no way that I could go into the General Store as "Addy Jones, Monster Hunter" because for me to be that woman, I would have to completely detaching myself from "Addy Jones, Freaked-Out Family Member". That was a disconnection that no one would react well to.

"Ok Addy, just like Dean said, 'one step at a time'," I coached myself as I got out of the GTO.

Before I entered the store, I had made a mental plan of action to ensure maximum efficiency to complete this task. But for this plan to work out perfectly, I had to have minimal disruptions from well-wishers.

"Adelaide! Darling! I had heard you were home!" I heard a voice exclaim from behind me as I tried to duck down the aisle with candles at 'Neely's General Store'.

I turned as I mentally cursed myself for not being stealthier. _Ok Addy, game face._ "Hey Bea. Yeah, I got into town the night before…well the night before last."

She pulled me into a hug saying, "I'm so glad you're home to be with Bill and Maureen. It's so great that you all are staying together to comfort each other right now."

 _How the…? Oh, that's right, you tell Veronica anything and the whole town will know in less than an hour,_ I thought to myself as I embraced the 65 year old, graying Grandmother of three.

"Yeah, we figured it would be easier if we stayed together," I said with a smile.

She looked very intensely into my eyes and asked in a very stern tone, "And I hear that boy is back. He hasn't…"

Before she could finish her thought, I said, "No Bea, he's a dear friend. He and his brother are… they're kind of specialists and they're helping with the… situation. I swear him being here is a good thing right now."

Her face immediately softened as she said, "Well if you can forgive him, then who am I to hold a grudge?"

She then wrapped an arm around my waist and walked me down my original path in the aisle asking, "So what are you looking for today, Darling?"

"Well, I heard there were some storms around town before I got here and I'm severely lacking some supplies in case of a blackout."

"Oh Adelaide, I'm disappointed in you. I thought your mother raised you better than that," she playfully said. "So you need candles?"

"Yes, please. That and bottled water." I threw in the second item to keep up the charade. Plus, it was a useful item to have on hand during hunts.

"Well, why don't you get the water and I'll find you the best candles I have in stock." She pointed me towards the refrigerated section.

"Okay Bea, I'll meet you at the cash." I shook my head, smiling at her kindness.

I easily grabbed a case of water and carried it over to the cash. While waiting for Bea to return, I was looking at all the 'Impulse Items' and grinned when I found an illustrated map of town that would fit our needs nicely. "I guess that will work," I said to myself with a soft laugh.

"Does anyone actually work here?" A gruff sounding female voice asked behind me.

I turned to see a rather attractive woman, roughly the same age as myself with tightly waved auburn hair and a distinct "rocker chick" look.

"Oh, sorry, but Bea is just helping me find some supplies. She should be back over here in a second."

She sighed and said, "Small town charm, right?"

I chuckled before I said, "Yeah. And again I'm sorry."

As I shifted my stance so that I was facing her square on, her pendant caught my eye instantly. Quickly maintaining my composure, I put on a bubbly persona and said, "Wow! That is just THE most beautiful pendant I've ever seen! Where did you find such a gorgeous piece of artwork?" I almost made myself want to vomit with the sugary tone I used.

She smiled as her right hand caressed the carved emerald rose. "I didn't. My guy has made me one for every month that we've been together. New month, new pendant in that month's stone."

"Wow! That is just absolutely amazing!" I really was awestruck by the care that must have gone into making the intricate piece of jewelry. Then I chuckled before attempting to tease her by saying, "But it's June. I think he might be sliii-pping."

She offered an almost sinister grin, "No, he hasn't. I just haven't been able to take my emerald off lately. It reminds me of something that just makes me smile so deeply."

Before I could probe further, Bea approached us saying, "Okay Addy, here you go. Some sturdy three inch pillars that don't have a scent. They're good for moving from room to room in a black out. And I found these, just in case you and… in case you and you know who want some alone time."

I blushed unconsciously. _I guess she really isn't holding a grudge._ "Thanks Bea. Those are great. But, umm why don't you help this young lady first." I point to the new-comer.

"Oh? Okay. What can I do for you darling?"

"I was just hoping you'd have a pack of Marlboro Lights."

"Tsk tsk tsk," Bea clucked her tongue. "Such a beautiful girl. Why would you want to kill your beauty with those things?"

The out-of-towner and I chuckled.

"Well, Ma'am, I'm not a very patient woman and waiting for my car to be fixed is driving me beyond crazy, so I figure smoking those are better than choking someone while I wait."

"Well if it saves your sanity," Bea said with a playful smile. "That'll be 8.56."

Bea was handed a $10 bill with the offer to keep the change. After the stranger left the store, I paid for my items and tried to make a speedy exit without sounding too rude. I promised Bea that I would call her when I needed anything and went out to my car. The whole time I was secretly hoping that I could run into the woman with the rose pendant again. There was no way that her being in town when one just like it turned up on Toby's school bus could be a coincidence. Like Bobby says, I believe in a lot of things, but coincidence ain't one of them.

I was beyond relieved to find her taking a long drag of a cigarette while leaning against a wooden pillar by my GTO. I awkwardly opened my trunk while trying to balance the flat case of water and the paper bag filled with candles.

"She's yours?" The new arrival asked without even trying to hide her surprise behind a large plume of smoke.

"Yeah. Well for the last 13 years at least," I weakly joked.

After I got my purchases into the trunk, I took a deep breath to help me regain my game face.

"So… since you're car is in the shop, can I offer you a ride somewhere, uh…?" I stalled trying to get a name.

"Meg. My name is Meg. You know my feet are killing me and small towns like this kind of freak me out, so a ride to the mechanic's would be great. I can take it from there…" She lingered too for the same reason I had previously.

"Adelaide. I'm Adelaide."

I unlocked her door and walked around to the driver's side. _Meg, Meg, Meg, Meg, Meg, Meg, Meg…_ I silently repeated her name to myself because I had heard somewhere that if you repeat a person's name seven to eight times after meeting them it would help you to remember it.

When I looked at Meg her lips were moving, but all I heard was, "Thanks again Adelaide."

"Oh, no worries Meg. Nothing worse than being rooted without wheels." I offered a weak smile as I guided my care to Luke's, the only mechanic in town.

"Rooted?" She asked while cocking a well groomed eyebrow.

I chuckled and said, "Sorry. My mum was a total 'Aussieophile", you know obsessed with Australia. Basically, I meant to say that I know what it's like to be screwed and stuck somewhere without wheels."

"Oh… 'Rooted'. Ha! That's kind of funny."

"Sorry. Most everyone around her is used to my random vocabulary."

"Uh… yeah, 'no worries' Adelaide," she said.

"So Meg? Did Luke set you up with somewhere to stay while he's working on your car?"

"No, it wasn't needed. I'm staying with my guy just outside of town."

"Oh, okay. Well that's good."

We reached Luke's quickly and easily. Yet another downfall to the 'charm' of small towns, you get EVERYWHERE quickly. That doesn't really give some of us enough time to interrogate our possible suspects.

"Well… Thanks again Adelaide."

"No worries, Meg. Maybe we'll run into each other again soon," I said with my sincerest attempt at a friendly smile.

"With the size of this place, I'm sure we will." She laughed quietly.

She got out and headed into the garage. When Luke caught a glimpse of my GTO, he rushed over to the driver side of my car. I had already gotten out to give him a hug in anticipation of such a move.

"Addy! Welcome home beautiful! You and Phantom (my car) are looking well."

"Thanks Luke, as are you."

I turned to check that we were alone. "So, you're working on Meg's car?"

"Yeah, poor thing. Her transmission blew out by the Henderson's farm three days ago. Be another day at least 'til the part comes in so I can fix it."

"Oh that's horrible… for her. But I know you'll make her baby good as new."

He beamed and hugged me again, saying, "Addy you really do need to visit more often. You always know how to make an old man feel appreciated. Damn that Granddad of yours for teaching you to take care of this beast on your own."

"Oh Luke. I promise, when I'm home, she's all yours. I swear I don't do any work on her once I've crossed Iowa State lines."

"I'll hold you to that!" He said as we hugged one last time. "Don't be stranger. If you need anything… anything…"

I touched his cheek and smiled saying, "I'll call. See you soon."

As I drove home, faster than usual, I had an idea and I pulled out my cell.

_"Hello?"_

"Hey Luke! It's Addy. Umm… Meg left her phone in my car. Is she still there by chance?"

_"No, sorry Addy, she's gone."_

"Oh…"

_"But I could give you a call when she picks up her car…  or I could let her know for ya."_

"Oh, would you? That's perfect. Thanks so much Luke!"

And I continued to share my news with the rest of the group.


	15. Never be the same again

My speedy return home was announced by a huge cloud of dust that followed me and the rumble of my car's engine that was attempting to keep up with my racing thoughts. After I parked at the back of the house, I forgot all about the much needed items in my trunk and just ran up the stairs. I was moving so fast that I nearly fell into my kitchen as I opened the door due to my momentum.

"Hey Addy. What's up?" Sam asked from the breakfast nook as he prepared some herbs with a mortar and pestle.

"I… have… a… lead…" I said as I was trying to catch my breath.

Sam sat me at the table and went to get me a glass of water. As I hyperventilated at the table he called out, "DEAN! BOBBY! Get in here!"

Sam handed me the glass of water as Dean entered the room.

"Dude, just in the next room. What's the commotion?" Dean asked sounding slightly annoyed as Bobby wheeled in behind him.

"Addy thinks she found something."

Dean quickly found a place at my side and his hands engulfed mine lovingly after I released the glass. He asked, "Lay? What did you find out?"

I smiled the most joyful smile I had had on my face in the last 48 hours as I said, "I think I found her."

Dean and Sam exchanged befuddled looks before saying, "Her? 'Her' who?"

"'Her who'? Her who has Toby!" I said with the utmost astonishment that they asked me that. Then I got up and went to Toby's back pack that was hanging on a hook on the coat rack by the back door to pull out the pendant that had each of us perplexed.

"She had on a pendant just like this one! She said that her boyfriend has made her one for every month that they've been together. Do you know what this is?" They all shook their heads, indicating that they neither idea what the stone was nor its significance. "Blood stone! Blood stone! That's for March. She had on an emerald one today… that's May. How much do you want to bet that she wore a diamond one not too long ago?"

Needless to say, I was getting very animated with my gestures as I explained.

"Her car broke down three days ago. Three days! And it broke down by the Henderson's. The HENDERSON'S! The police report said that that was where the driver woke up to the smell of rotten eggs! But I'll bet that it was actually sulfur she smelled!"

The three of them remained seated, trying to keep up with me as I rambled and paced in front of them excitedly.

"Guys! I know where he is!"

"Lay… okay… slow down," Dean said while getting up to sit me down at the table again. "You've got to catch us up to you here. Just slow down a bit, okay?"

I took a deep breath then apologized saying, "Sorry. I just… I know! I know!"

"Shh… yeah, I got that part. How about filling us in?"

I slowed my breathing by taking a few deep breath and exhaling them slowly. I then explained that I had read over the original police report and described the details in the report. I continued the story to the part where I met the female that was waiting on her car being fixed at Luke's and how she was wearing the exact pendant that was found on the school bus. After the slow thorough explanation, the three of them finally started to smile along with me.

"And Luke said that he would call when she gets back to the garage," I said, finishing my grand tale.

"Well Koala Bear, that sounds like as good a lead as any," Bobby said.

I looked at the brothers as they each exchanged concerned looks. "What? What is it Dean… Sam?" I questioned anxiously between the two of them.

Sam looked at his hands as he asked, "This woman… umm… did she have a name?"

I was still quite elated when I said enthusiastically, "Oh God! Yeah! I forgot to tell you! She said her name was 'Meg'."

The three hunters lost all color from their faces and asked (in unison), "Meg?"

My enthusiasm started to fade at their grim reactions and I swallowed hard before I said, "Yeah… why? Do you know her?"

"Lay, she's the demon that…" Dean couldn't look up from the table as he started to clarify with a hitch in his throat. "That… she was the one that sicked the hell hounds on Ellen and…"

"OH GOD! Ellen and Jo!" I cried out interrupting the rest of his statement. Bobby had already filled me about the tragic events that occurred in Carthage. I looked at Dean as he bit his lower lip. Reaching for his knee from underneath the table, I squeezed his knee sympathetically.

Then it hit me. "Oh God… Meg! She's the one who…"

Dean nodded as we stared at each other and said, "Yeah, that was her. But…"

"But this is still a good thing," Sam said.

I sniffed back my own tears and quietly asked, "How? How is this still a good thing?"

"Because she's like Lucifer's right hand man… well woman. I'd put anything on a bet that Toby is with her," Sam said with a slightly hopeful tone.

"So do we know where the Hell Bitch is staying Koala Bear?" Bobby asked sounding slightly incensed.

When I looked at Bobby's face, I realized that talking about Meg must be one of the most painful topics for him to discuss, second only to the topic of his wife's death. Meg and her minions had helped to put him into his wheel chair. Then she sicked her dogs on Jo and Ellen, which led to Bobby losing two of his dearest friends.

"I think she's staying at the Henderson's," I said. "Steve has acres of property and I wouldn't be surprised if she couldn't be hiding out in an empty building on his land. But… I don't want to…"

"Get your hopes up?" Sam asked

"Yeah, exactly. Do you think that your spell could confirm my suspicions Bobby?"

Bobby looked at me and smiled before he said, "I think it could Koala Bear, I think it could. But I need…"

"SUPPLIES!" I said loudly, inadvertently. When I realized that I had startled all of them, I calmed my tone and continued. "Sorry. Supplies… yes, I got all of them Bobby. They're in my trunk."

Before I could get up or do anything else, Sam jumped to his feet and took my keys, saying, "I'll get them for you Addy."

Sam swiftly went out the door to retrieve the goods and Bobby turned to grab himself a drink out of the fridge.

Dean took this time to steal a private moment with me. His hands found my cheeks and he turned my face towards his own. He pulled me forwards so that our lips were touching and held me in a passionate embrace. My hand instinctively wrapped around his neck and back. He released my lips from his own and gently kissed the tip of my nose and said, "You done good Lay. I can feel that we're getting close."

I looked deep into his green eyes and smiled while he pulled me close into a warm hug. I said, "Me too."

To Dean and I, nothing existed outside of our amorous hug and we continued to smile as we held each other, lost in our own thought. We were finally brought back to reality when Sam returned to the kitchen and we heard him say, "Here you go Bobby, it's all here."

"Maybe we should do this outside, son," Bobby said to him while motioning to the door. He didn't want to disturb Dean and me because he could sense that we need to share a tranquil moment together.

"Bobby, it's late. You shouldn't…" I turned to stop him, but he had already slipped out the door with Sam. I jumped up from my seat and ran to the door. By the time I got there, Bobby was beside the pool deck on the driveway dirt with Sam.

Dean stepped up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. With his chin on my shoulder, he squeezed me tight and against him and softly said, "Bill got a little restless yesterday and started working on some ramps for Bobby. Sam and I helped him today to put the finishing touches on them. We figured it would be okay… you don't mind do you?"

I turned around in his arms and wrapped my own around his neck, placed a soft peck on his lips before saying, "No Dean, I don't mind. I just can't believe I didn't notice them. Thank you. Thank you so much for helping Bill… and Bobby."

Dean said into my ear, "We thought that if Bobby could get around easier…"

I lifted my head off of his chest and put my right index finger to his lips. "Dean. Seriously, I get it. Really. Bobby seems much more like himself now that he's able to get around more easily." I place a deep kiss on his lips. "Thank you. I really do appreciate it."

He led me back to the table with a euphoric grin on his face. "Okay, good. I'm glad that you're not mad."

I looked at him with a slight bit of mischief in my eyes, "Dean, this is where I should get really stern with you and tell you everything is fine. Now, stop worrying. Please?"

"Okay. I will then."

Then we cuddled together on our chairs of the breakfast nook and for a few minutes we found contentment just being in each other's arms. I was still curled against Dean's chest when Bobby cleared his throat to bring us out of our state of seemingly pure bliss.

I whipped around and my knees collided with Bobby's as I asked, "So!?"

"So… if this is the Henderson's…" Bobby calmly started but trailed off as I grabbed the small piece of what was left of the map from his hand. I silently nodded. "Then it looks like you found him, Koala Bear!"

"I did? Really?" I was so stunned that I actually allowed the tears of relief to overcome me.

"Yeah you did," he whispered as he stroked my hair after pulling me into a hug. He looked up at Dean while holding me and flashed him an encouraging smile and nodded. Dean couldn't help himself and his lips upturned into a smile of relief as he rubbed my back gently.

"When do we head out?!" I asked, leaning back violently and nearly bashing Dean's nose with the back of my head.

"Tomorrow Koala Bear… tomorrow. Let's give ourselves a chance to regroup and get an action plan together," Bobby said trying to calm me down with his soothing tone.

Dean kissed the back of my neck and chuckled at my eagerness then said, "Lay, let's get some rest first."

I turned to face him and excitedly said, "Do you seriously think I'll be able to sleep tonight? Come on… let's go! Tonight!"

"Lay…" Dean started while grinning from ear to ear. "Although I appreciate your enthusiasm, we can't have you running on pure adrenaline. You've been working on a single meal for the last two days; we need you rested and strong. Sam and I haven't been able to beat Meg when we've been on the top of our game, so we all need to be at more than our best. Not just you Lay, us too."

"Okay Dean, I get that." _Wow, that must have been so hard for him to admit._ "Alright, first we all rest then we'll make a game plan in the morning," I reluctantly agreed.

Bobby gave me another hug before wishing us all a "Good Night" and retired to the den. That left Sam, Dean and I in the kitchen. I was still so excited about having a viable lead that I wasn't even close to being ready to try to sleep. Sam was leaning on the island, smiling at Dean and me as we sat at the table.

"Speaking of not eating much…" I heard my stomach growl as I stood up to check the fridge for leftovers.

"Maureen made a casserole and there was quite a bit leftover," Sam said.

I pulled the glass dish out of the fridge and placed it on the island. "I think I'll make some tea too… maybe that'll help calm my nerves. Either of you want some?"

Dean made a sour-puss face saying, "No thanks."

Sam shook his head at Dean's reaction. "I'd love a cup, thanks Addy."

As I heated up a plate of food, I started the kettle to get the water boiling for the tea and put the rest of the casserole in the fridge. Then I pulled out a bottle of beer for Dean.

After popping off the top, I placed it in front of Dean saying, "There's your 'tea' Dean."

"Now that's what I'm talking about," he said as his grin grew wider.

I then pulled out a tea pot, two mugs and the box of chamomile tea. While we were waiting for the tea to brew, I started digging into my reheated casserole.

"So Lay? Do you know the Henderson property well?" Dean asked from his spot at the table.

"Yeah, I know it fairly well and I'm sure that their abandoned barn would be like any other one… oh, and I know exactly where it is on the property." I finished my food and placed the plate in the dishwasher. I then poured a cup of tea for Sam and me before finding my place beside Dean once again. Sam in turn occupied a chair opposite the two of us.

"Now, I know Bobby said that we should wait until morning… but do you think you draw out the layout of the Henderson property?" Sam asked while passing me a pad of paper and a pen.

"Definitely! Like I said, I'm too excited to sleep. Thank you for giving me something to do!" I said cheerfully as I took the pen and pad. I started to draw out the layout of the property the best that I could. After I had completed my "masterpiece", I slid it to the middle of the table so that all three of us could look it over.

"Okay, so there's the main house and here's the old barn… hmmm looks like there's a fair distance between the two. But, what is this mark here by the old barn?" Dean asked pointing to a star that I had place near the vicinity of the abandoned building.

"Oh, that's approximately the area where the bus driver woke up. At least it is according to the police report," I said.

"Hmmm… and we can access it from here and here?" He asked further.

"Yeah… and not to mention here," I said while pointing to an access road to the barn from the direction of the Henderson's house.

"Okay… right… but which… would be the best access road in your opinion?"

I look over at Sam and he too looked like he was fighting to keep his eyes open. I chuckled softly before saying, "Okay you two. I think that we've been at this late enough tonight. Why don't we call it a night and go over the rest with Bobby in the morning? Plus I'm sure that Bill will be able to fill in any gaps that I've left in the design of the property here."

They both nodded and mumbled that they agreed with me. Sam and I hugged and exchanged wishes of sweet dreams before he made his way through the living room to the stairs.

I then immediately busied myself by cleaning up any and all stray dishes in the kitchen and placed them in the washer. I found the soap and started the load of dishes that had accumulated during the day. When Dean realized that I wasn't going to stop at the dishes, he walked up behind me and grabbed my right hand as I was wiping down the almost spotless kitchen table.

"Lay… you should call it a night too you know," he said softly into my hair before kissing my cheek. He then gently removed the cloth from my hand and turned me around.

I bit my lower lip and said, "But Dean… I'm so not tired. I don't think I could sleep even if I was tried."

He dropped the cloth on the table and then held my cheeks in his hands, quietly saying, "Well, what if I told you that I don't think that I'll be able to sleep in that nice big bed all by myself?" He finished his question off with a playful pout.

I looked up at him and couldn't help but grin. "Fine… since you need my help… I guess you can consider my arm twisted."

Dean then took my hand and led me towards my room.

 


	16. Oh, lover I'm walking down the same highway

Once Dean and I were in my room I started to feel mischievous. Dean started to remove his flannel shirt and I stepped up behind him, wrapped my arms around his waist and undid the button on his jeans as he was dropping the shirt beside the bed.

"Lay, what are you doing?" He asked with an uncomfortable chuckle in his tone.

"Well I figured that if you needed my help sleeping, maybe you could help me work off some of this excess energy coursing through my veins," I said playfully as I started to undo his zipper.

He paused my hands and turned around, still entangled in my arms. I looked up at him and jutted out my bottom lip in an impish pout. "Or not…"

Dean grinned and kissed me deeply before he said, "Oh, I'd be more than happy to help you with that."

I smiled and continued to kiss him as I undid his zipper. We both struggled a bit to get him out of his jeans, but they were soon tossed aside with Dean's shirt. Then I ran my hands up his back, gliding his shirt with them and slipped it over his head. As our lips returned to their almost desperate contact, I ran my nails down his muscular back and under the waist band of his boxers. I felt his mouth tighten into a smile as I lightly squeezed his buttocks. Then I hooked my thumbs on the waist band and guided his boxers off his body.

Dean stood beside my bed now, completely naked and I grinned as I lightly pushed him so that he would fall back onto the bed. He adjusted himself so that he was in a more comfortable seated position before saying, "Hey, no fair. If I'm supposed to help you expel some excess energy, don't you think that you're a tad overdressed?"

I walked up to him as he sat on the edge of the bed, placed a quick kiss on his lips and seductively said, "I just don't want you to waste any of your energy on the menial tasks. You just sit there and relax a second while I get ready to join you."

I quickly slipped off my top and he grabbed my belt loops to pull me close to him so that he could kiss my bare stomach. As he covered my entire abdomen with kisses and soft bites, I removed my bra and tossed it with the growing pile of clothes. His mouth swiftly found the flesh that I had just exposed and I let out a contented moan. I again felt his mouth once again pull back into a smile as his tongue caressed my left nipple.

I left his mouth and hands to their exploration of my breasts and torso while I undid my jeans and tried to slip out of them without interrupting him. That proved too difficult, so I took a step back and his softly whimpered.

I looked down at him and chuckled softly as I slid my jeans and panties off in one fluid motion. Now that I stood in front of him, stark naked, my breathing began to quicken and my heart began to race because of the anticipation I was feeling about what was going to happen next.

I was almost hyperventilating, which concerned Dean and he started to get off the bed while asking, "Lay? Are you alright?"

I smiled wider, took a step forward and pushed him back to his seated position on the bed. I then kneeled over his lap, with one knee on either side of his body and ran my fingers over his temples to the back of his head and pulled him into a deep kiss.

"I'm more than fine Dean," I said while massaging his head. "I'm just… I just can't believe how blessed I am to have you back in my life."

He ran his hands up my legs until they found a comfortable home on my hips.

"Lay…" he started to say.

"Shh…" I gingerly pinched his lips together to stifle his ability to speak. "I already told you, no wasting any energy… unless you would rather I stop." I had continued to massage his scalp during my little speech.

His eyes flew open and he flashed a wicked grin. He then grabbed hold of my hips and flipped me so that I was on my back with my head on the pillow and his body on top of mine. He trailed kisses along my neck to nibble at my left ear.

"No way in hell we're stopping," he said, playfully growling.

I giggled and wrapped my legs around his waist. He looked down at me adoringly, brushed my hair out of my face and started to say, "Lay, you are so beautiful. I lo--"

I swiftly smothered his mouth with my own as I ran my nails up his back to his head and forced it closer to my own. Then I pulled his head back to look him in the eyes and said, "Shh… Not yet… Don't say that yet."

He looked down at me with sad concern and stroked my cheek with his thumb. "But Lay…"

I again raised a finger to his lips, "Shh… Dean, just not yet. When we're not in the throes of passion, tell me then. Please, just wait? Let's just be in this moment."

It wasn't that I didn't want to hear those three words come out of his mouth. God knows I wanted to hear them. I knew that he did and I would tell him the same thing. I just didn't want to hear it now because those words carry a lot of weight for the future. At this moment in time I didn't know what kind of future we could have, let alone if we were going to make it through the next 24 hours. When we declared those feelings to one another again, I wanted to make sure we could discuss what that meant for our lives together. I just couldn't do that tonight; tonight I just want to **show** him my deepest feelings for him.

I reached my right hand into the drawer of the night stand beside Dean's side of the bed. When I pass him the small square silver package, Dean laughed softly.

"Lay? Is that the same brand?"

"What? Yeah… So what if it is?" His shoulders were shaking as he laughed. I hit his chest playfully and continued. "Shut up Dean! Girls do that kind of thing! You know this isn't the best way… "

He leaned down and kissed me as he opened the package and put its contents to use. I released my legs from their vise-like grip around his waist to help Dean guide himself inside me. Dean then grabbed my hands and guided them above my head as he propelled himself harder inside me. My legs tightened their hold around his waist in an effort to help him get deeper and deeper. He let go of my hands and put his on the mattress to gain more leverage to intensify our motion.

"Oh God Dean! Yes!"

He lowered his mouth to engulf mine and I continued to moan into it.

After my moans subsided, he looked down at me again and smiled. He slowed his rocking motion so that every thrust radiated more powerfully through my body. I could feel myself tightening around him and a scream was caught in the back of my throat. Dean laughed when I grabbed a pillow and bit it to stifle the scream and continued his slow deliberate rhythm to intensify the pleasure. As I climaxed, I screamed into the pillow, which elicited a loud chuckle from Dean. I threw the pillow to the side and pulled his face to mine and we continued our complimentary rocking until I heard him groan passionately into my mouth.

After we had both reached our apex, Dean rolled off of me happily gasping, "Oh my God Lay… that was amazing."

I rolled onto my stomach so that our hips were touching and I ran my hand over his chest, kissed his shoulder and quietly said, "You bet your ass it was."

He rubbed my back with his right hand and I maneuvered myself so that I was half lying on his chest so that our lips could lock together again. When I reached down with my right hand to check if he was ready to go another round, Dean jumped a bit and quietly shrieked, "Lay? What are you doing?"

I seductively whispered into his ear, "Just checking to see if the seventh inning stretch is over."

"What? Are you serious?!"

I pushed myself up off the bed and threw him a playful pout. "Yeah… unless you don't wanna… or maybe you aren't up for it."

I knew that challenging him like that would do the trick. He again flipped me onto my back and smothered my mouth in a forceful embrace. I ran my nails up and down his back and then pulled his head closer to my face again. While we were lip-locked, I heard him rifle through the drawer and slip out another package. Once he had exchanged the used protection for a new one, I decided that I would take the lead for this round.

I enclosed his waist with my legs and tossed him over onto his back. I then rolled over, straddled his mid-section and leaned down to kiss his lips.

"Whoa, Lay nice move."

I smiled down at him and said, "Well I've learned a few things over the years."

Then without another word, I guided him back into me and began rocking my hips. I leaned my head back and stabilized myself by putting my hands on the bed behind me. His hands ran up the front of my torso and lingered once they reached my breasts. I still had my head thrown back as he brought his mouth up to my right nipple.

"Oh Dean… yes," I praised loudly.

I wrapped my hands around his neck and our mouths met again. I then braced myself by grabbing onto the headboard behind him in an attempt to help him move deeper into me. This time we both seemed to reach our climax at roughly the same time. Dean hugged me close to him and with his head on my chest, he plunged himself deeper with a few more slow, deliberate thrusts. We both moaned loudly and my whole body shuddered.

He held me close with his left cheek resting against my chest. I kissed the top of his head and then moved my lips to his right ear and whispered, "I think we even made it into extra innings that time."

He looked up at me and smiled before kissing me softly.

He held my face in his hands and quietly said, "Lay you really are amazing. I've missed you so much… I really do…"

I quickly kissed him before he could finish. "I missed you too."

I then extracted myself from his arms and got off the bed. Dean sat up against the headboard and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Lay? I know you don't want to get into any heavy conversations tonight, but I have to ask you something. Why won't you let me tell you that I love you?"

I found the same flannel pajama set I had worn the night before and slipped on the top with a pair of cotton briefs. I had never been comfortable sleeping in the nude, no matter who my bedmate was for the night. I walked over to the bed and passed Dean the bottoms because if we were going to have this conversation now I didn't want to be distracted by his nakedness.

As he slipped them on, I tried to explain my insane rationale. "Because… because it's not the right time to say it. When we… well when anyone says that, it kind of means there's lots of other stuff that will come with it."

I had sat cross legged on the bed looking at him. I really didn't want to have this conversation right now, (especially not after the two rounds of the most intense lovemaking I had ever had in my life) but I knew it wasn't fair to keep my feelings from him either.

He held my hands and shifted so he too was cross legged and closer to me. He lifted my down turned chin so that I was looking into his eyes before he lovingly asked, "What do you mean 'stuff comes with it'?"

"You know… promises… responsibilities to each other. Just… you know… stuff."

"And that's a bad thing?" He asked as concern crept into his tone.

"For most people, no… it's not a bad thing. But for us…" I looked down at our intertwined hands while trying to find the words I need to explain this all to him. "We can't promise each other a future right now."

"Lay…"

"Dean… you know we can't. You have to fight the Devil with Sam," I chuckled at the ridiculousness of that statement. "And I don't mean to sound cruel, but that means that we can't promise each other anything for the future right now. I understand why we can't, so it's okay. For us tomorrow isn't guaranteed, so there's no point in making promises we know we can't keep."

"Lay…don't say that." He pulled me into a hug.

"Dean, you know it's the truth. You and Sam HAVE to do this together." I held his face in my hand and placed a soft kiss on his lips before I continued. "When we finally say that to each other again, I want to know that we can focus on our relationship, even if it's just for a little while. Right now though, we have to focus on finding Toby… then you two have to focus on stopping the Apocalypse."

He ran his hands up my arms and stroked my cheeks with his thumbs and asked (in a slightly amused tone), "So what you're saying is that you'll finally let me tell you that I… tell you those three words after I've saved the world from the Devil?"

The absurdity of my rationale hit me and I laughed uncomfortably as I blushed before I said, "Okay, so maybe that's a little harsh. How about we start with getting Toby home safe and then we can take it from there?"

"My feelings aren't going to change in the next 24 hours Lay," Dean said adoringly.

I hugged him and said, "I know. I know… mine either."

He looked at me again with mischief in his eyes. "I'm still going to think that you're as mad as a cut snake, but I'll still care about you all the same."

"Dean…" I kissed the tip of his nose. "You know that's just part of my charm."

Then I finished in a more serious tone, "Thank you for understanding… I just don't want to mess this up again. I want us to do this right this time and for me to do that I have to use my head and not just my heart."

Dean pulled me close so that I was now sitting in his lap. He held me tight and stroked my hair for a couple of minutes.

"Lay," he said. "We'll definitely do this differently this time. I promise."

I took a deep, cleansing breath and allowed my whole body to relax completely. When I looked into his eyes again, I smiled and said, "I really did miss this. I forgot how wonderful it felt just to talk to you."

He brushed my hair out of my face and said, "We have a lot of lost time to make up for. But if we're going to make sure that this time around is different, we have to stay honest with each other, no matter what. Deal?"

I reached up to guide his lips to mine. "Deal," I softly said.

Then I started to get up off the bed and Dean grabbed my hand. "Where are you running away to?"

I giggled. "Dean, nature calls. Must I inform you every time I have to go to the bathroom?" I leaned down and kissed him softly.

I went out into the hall and stopped when I noticed the bathroom light was on and the door was closed. I started to turn to go back into my room, but was reminded that I really did need to use the facilities. I stood there awkwardly debating if I should just stand there and wait, if I should retreat to my room or if I should try my luck by running down to the main floor bathroom.

As I was weighing my options, the door opened and Sam stepped out. He looked down at me with an amused smile and said quietly, "Sorry Addy. I didn't mean to keep you from…" He nodded towards my closed bedroom door.

My cheeks felt hot as they reddened with embarrassment. I walked up and softly slapped his arm.

"Sam!" I said in a hushed tone. When he just chuckled I asked worriedly, "You didn't… oh no…did you hear us?"

He gave me a sly grin and nodded.

I hid my face in my hands as I groaned. "Oh God." Then I slid my hands to my neck and held my throat as I meekly apologized, "I'm so sorry. Oh man… wow… umm talk about awkward."

He pulled me into a soft hug saying, "Don't apologize. As long as I don't have to watch, I'm good. It's just nice seeing you so happy."

"Thanks Sam." I released myself from his embrace. "Guess I should let you get some sleep now."

He laughed softly and said, "Thanks. Sleep tight Addy."

When I returned to my room Dean had turned out the lights and I could barely see to get back to the bed. I slowly made my way to the bed and when I finally bumped into it with my knee; I attempted to climb into it.

"Hey! Get on your own side!" Dean playfully said as he grabbed me so that I was lying on top of him.

I giggled as he tickled me. "Sorry… sorry… I didn't mean to intrude."

He continued to tickle me as I attempted to make my way to my side of the bed. Every time I thought that I had escaped his grasp, he pulled me in tighter to him.

"DEAN!" I shrieked loudly in a fit of laughter. He let out a very loud chuckle at his triumph and he finally released me. I suddenly remembered my conversation with Sam and I held my breath in an effort to calm myself.

"Shh Dean… Dean… we don't want to wake everyone up," I warned him through a whisper.

"Lay, you worry too much," he softly retorted.

By this time I had nearly caught my breath and was fully on my side of the bed. I rolled over so I was cuddled into his side and he wrapped his left arm around my waist.

"Well… I ran into Sam and… umm…yeah…"

"Shit! He heard us?" He asked.

I nodded against his bare shoulder.

"Well guess we should call it a night so everyone can sleep then." He said with a large yawn.

We found each other's lips and then he pulled me closer to him saying, "Sweet dreams Lay."

"You too Dean."


	17. And lover I'm all alone;  there's no one here to blame

I awoke still snuggled closely in Dean's arms, while the sun was shining through the curtained windows. I slid my hand over Dean's naked chest and hugged him tighter in my arms. Today was the first day in many years that I woke up feeling rested and somewhat content. I was holding the man I had loved for over a decade and for a brief moment all of my troubles seemed to fade away. As I laid there with my head on Dean's chest, tears of happiness slid out of my eyes. Once I felt them I quickly tried to dry his chest with my sleeve.

When I stirred, I felt Dean's arm tighten around my shoulder as he said, "No guy wants to wake up to the woman he cares about crying. What's wrong, Lay?"

I laughed softly before I replied, "Nothing's wrong Dean, really." I gave his torso a squeeze. "They were tears of joy. I swear. It's been a really long time since I've felt this… happy…" I took a deep breath and sighed, "But then I…"

"Shhh… We'll find him today. Just hold onto that feeling you woke up with Lay. We have to stay positive."

He wrapped his other arm around me and squeezed my torso to his chest. As we held each other, I kissed his neck and work my way up to his mouth.

"Okay Handsome, I think it's time we start the day. I'm going to hop into the shower."

His strengthen his hold on me, "Mmm… Want some company?"

"Dean," I giggled. "If you come with me, we might never leave the shower. You stay here."

I gave him one last quick peck and shimmied out of his arms. I then grabbed a pair of jeans and a long sleeved black v-neck t-shirt and slipped out of my room.

I hadn't check, or even thought much about, my stitches since our first full day at the house, so I quickly looked at them under the bathroom lights before my shower.

_Should probably get Sam to double check on them too. I can't tell if that's an infection or not. Please God let it look better after I've washed up because I so don't have the time to deal with an infection right now._

After I had showered and put on my change of clothes, I threw the night shirt on a pile of clothes by my dresser and checked that Dean had gotten up. Seeing that my room was empty, I grabbed a hair elastic and made my way to the kitchen while pulling my wet hair into a loose bun.

I was nearly skipping as I made it to the kitchen and stopped cold in my tracks when I found it was empty. I walked over to the window to check the deck area, but it was vacant as well.

"Where the hell is everyone?" I questioned out loud as I turned around. _There's no way I spent THAT long in the shower, right?_

I looked at the clock on the stove and gasped, "Crap! Is it really only 530 am? Whoops."

As I was silently laughing to myself, I decided to start fixing breakfast. I heard the door to the bathroom open and Dean walked out, fully clothed, towel drying his hair.

"Looks like we beat everyone to the punch today," he announced with a gigantic grin spreading across his face.

"Not sure how we managed that," I laughed. "So what would you like for breakfast?"

He tossed his towel into the laundry room and walked up behind me while I was looking into the fridge. He pulled me close and nuzzled his face into my neck, "Can I have you?"

"Dean, come on. Behave yourself. We have to get ready for the day ahead." I pulled his head forward to kiss his cheek. "Now you get the coffee brewing and I'll start cooking."

I passed him the coffee canister from the freezer so he could start the coffee, but he just stared at me for a second. When I turned to the fridge to get the food out, he finally took the hint and started his appointed duties. I heard him chuckle as he pulled out the carafe to fill with water.

As I put the food on the island, I looked over at him and asked, "And what's so funny?"

He looked up as he poured the grounds into the filter, "Oh nothing… Just… this is such a 'normal' way to start the day."

"And?"

"And… our day will most likely end with us fighting the Devil. So, it just got me thinking about how strange our lives are."

I pulled out a frying pan to start the hash browns and laughed softly before saying, "Yeah, pretty sure there aren't many people who could say that fighting Lucifer was on their to do list for the day."

We then got to work preparing a feast for everyone. I did all of the cooking; eggs, bacon, hash browns and sausages. Dean contributed by setting the table, making some toast and slicing some fresh fruit.

Sam walked in just as the two of us were settling down to eat at the table.

"Holy crap! How long have you two been up?"

I looked up over my mug at the clock and replied, "Almost an hour now."

Sam smirked as he loaded a plate up with a little bit of everything. Dean was too engrossed in his own meal to have noticed it, but I caught it right away.

"Something you'd like to share with the class, Mr. Winchester?"

They both looked up at me and Sam snorted through a laugh, "Just surprised that you two are the first ones up is all. And you know that you had enough energy to do all of this after…"

"Tread lightly son," Bobby's gruff voice interrupted from behind him. "Some of our ears are more sensitive than others."

The two Winchesters chuckled, while I tried desperately to hide behind my coffee. I was completely mortified at having this discussion in front of Bobby. He had easily become a father figure to all of us and I always felt like an eternal teenager in his presence.

After witnessing my discomfort, Bobby took pity on me and squeezed my knee once he placed his plate of food on the table and said in a quiet comforting tone, "Don't worry Koala Bear. This old man has no illusions about you and that idjit over there. Don't be embarrassed, okay?"

"Okay Bobby. Thanks." I finally looked over at him. "Oh, no… let me get you some coffee."

I jumped up to pour him a cup of coffee as quickly as I could. My thought was that doing something, anything, was better than having all eyes at me at this moment. While I stood with my back with them, Bobby found the drawing I had made the night before.

"Did you draw this?" He showed the picture to me as I set his coffee down.

"Ummm, yeah… we kinda got started last night. I figured that if I roughed out the property then Uncle Bill could finalize it today for us… you know so that we could get a jump start for today and all." I explained awkwardly.

Bobby eyed me suspiciously knowing that my explanation was only a half truth, but he let it slide today. He was acutely aware of how much it was killing me not to have Toby safe at home with his parents, so he was willing to let my white lie go for the time being.

"Good idea," he replied.

As we ate, Maureen and Bill wandered into the kitchen as well.

"Good morning all," Maureen announced as she entered the room. When she saw all of the food I had prepared laid out on the island, her face twisted into a look of minor shock and dismay. "Oh Adelaide, you shouldn't have done all this. I would have been more than happy to cook breakfast for everyone again. Sweetheart you didn't have to worry yourself with all of this."

Dean and I had eaten our fill and I cleared our plates so that Maureen and Bill could have a place to eat. Once I was close to Maureen, I put our dirty plates on the island and gave her a warm hug, saying, "Mo you've done so much for us already, especially given how… you must be worried sick too. Please, relax a bit and enjoy the meal I made. Please?"

"Okay darling, I'll try… for you," she conceded and kissed my cheek. "And thank you."

Once Bill and Maureen had loaded their plates up, Bobby and Sam got a second helping and I consolidated the left-overs onto one plate. After I placed it back on the island, Dean immediately started to eye it hungrily. I laughed and quietly said, "Go ahead and take it. We wouldn't want it to go to waste."

"Really? Well if you insist," he pretended to reluctantly agree.

He scooped the plate up quickly and leaned against the island while he ate. I finished loading the dishes into the washer and then hopped up on the island's counter top as Bill started looking over my diagram.

"Wow, Adelaide, you remember all of that off the top of your head?" He asked somewhat amazed.

As I sat on the edge of the counter, I lightly swung my legs and hit my heels on the bottom of the island and replied, "Ummm… yeah. I really fell in love with Steve's property when we helped him with that pest problem, what was it five, six years ago? But… uh…it has been a while since I've been out there… I know you and Steve have helped each other so much since then, so I thought you could help with… you know, filling in the blanks."

Bill looked up at me and I caught a twinkle in his eyes. I smiled warmly knowing how happy it had made him to be a part of the process to find his son. The new ramp system at my backdoor was proof that Bill was not comfortable with being idle. He was used to being a man of action and this was his chance to finally be actively involved in our quest. That was something that I could more than understand, so I was happy to help find a way for him to be a part of this process.

"I think you have the gist of the property layout here Addy. I'm not sure that I can really add anything to it. Sorry," he apologized sounding defeated.

Dean had finished his plate and after he put it on the island, I gently guided him so that he was standing between my legs. I started to massage his neck and upper back, figuring that everyone knew about us being intimately involved anyway, so there was no reason to hide it. "Oh…but what about the old barn? You helped Steve build it, right? So you'd know the floor plan of it?" I tried to encourage Bill because I hated hearing that defeated tone coming from him, especially right now.

Bill's eyes again brightened right away, "I sure did. I actually helped him design the whole floor plan to maximize the usable space for Jenny's horses. Would it help you all if I sketched out the blue prints that he ended up using for the final floor plan?"

"Yes, please, that would be more than helpful." I replied.

Dean was absolute putty in my hands as I worked out some deep seeded knots that had accumulated in his upper back while I managed to convince the other distraught father that he was an integral part of this hunt.

Bill flipped the page and eagerly started to sketch out the layout of the build he had helped his friend design and build. I smiled as he got to work on his diagram, relieved that he was able to give us some information that we would desperately need. Maureen cleared their plates, as well as Sam and Bobby's with her characteristic motherly smile on her face.

As she loaded them into the dishwasher, I looked over my shoulder at her and she mouthed, "Thank you."

I beamed while I silently replied, "No worries."

After Bill had completed his copy of the blueprints, he pushed it to the middle of the table with a hopeful smile on his face. Dean took a step forward to examine the drawing with the other three men and quickly slipped into "Hunter-Mode".

When I realized that I had lost him to my old seat at the table, I admired the four men as they poured over the information. Before anyone could bust me for my innocent "fan girl" moment, I hopped off the island to join them at the table. Maureen had refilled my coffee mug and handed it to me before I found a seat beside Sam.

As I took my seat, Bobby was clarifying a plan of action for us. "So the best place for them to park is here (he pointed to a spot on the map I drawn) then for them to enter the building through here? (He pointed to a door on Bill's drawing)."

Billy answered with enthusiasm, "That would be my best bet. No one usually remembers about that door. I had him add it for an emergency… seems kind of fitting given our current situation."

The four of us chuckled sadly, understanding what he meant. The five of us then went over the logistics of the plan to gain access to the barn in an attempt to locate Toby. Maureen busied herself with any bit of cleaning she could because she didn't feel emotionally strong enough to handle being a participant in the discussion of the rescue mission. We figured out the majority of the details for Sam, Dean and I to get into the abandoned building and we all decided it would be best if we moved out as soon as possible.

"Before you head out, let's do a weapons check, okay?" Bobby cautioned.

"Sounds good," Sam and Dean replied in unison.

"Speaking of… Sam, do you think you could check my stitches? They kind of looked off before I showered and I'm thinking some extra padding might be in order," I asked mildly concerned.

"Yeah that's no problem Addy," Sam replied. "Dean, think you, Bobby and Bill can do a final check that we have everything we need in the Impala without me?"

"Sure, no problem Sammy. You make sure you take care of my Lay and fix her up good and proper," Dean answered with a wink.

Sam and I went into the main floor bathroom and I pulled out the first aid kit out from under the sink that I knew would be fully stocked like it had always been since I was a little girl. I then sat on the closed lid of the toilet, facing the tank, and slipped my right arm out, while trying to keep my body covered as much as possible.

"Ooh Addy, I see what you mean. " He said as he pulled out a bottle of rubbing alcohol and some cotton balls.

I was kind of worried about the tone of concern in his voice and anxiously asked, "It's not infected is it?"

"Oh no… no. It just looks like one of the stitches loosened up a bit so there's a little bit of seepage. Don't worry, really it looks okay. I'll just give it a good cleaning and I'll have you all patched up soon, okay?"

He cleaned the wound and layered the gauze more so than before to ensure that the stitches were properly protected.

"Okay… thanks Sam. I probably would have bled to death if it wasn't for you fixing me up in Illinois."

He finished his handiwork and pulled my shirt down so I could replace my arm in it, saying "Well let's not think about that. Let's just get ready for what's ahead of us."

I looked in the mirror and there was now a very distinct bulge on my upper right arm. I took a deep breath and offered Sam an attempt at a brave smile.

"You're right Sam. Okay, let's do this," I replied.

We then made our way to the back door and outside where the other men were at the car and Sam quickly joined them. Once Sam had joined the other men, Maureen and I were left alone in the kitchen. I grabbed my Poppy's old sage Ground Crew jacket off the hook and walked up to the island to say my goodbyes for the day.

"Mo?" I attempted to get her attention from her furiously scrubbing at an imaginary spot of dirt. "Auntie Maureen?"

When she finally looked up she smiled but her attention seemed to be fixed on something a million miles away. She soon focused on me and said, "Oh… yes, what is it Adelaide?"

I swallowed hard and answered, "I just wanted to say that I promise, today is the day."

She gave me a sad smile, walked around the island and wrapped me in a hug. "I'll keep all of you in my prayers until you get home safe to us." She held my face in her hands and continued, "Stay safe out there, okay? I just don't know what I'd do if you… I mean… Fight hard sweetheart."

"I will Auntie Mo. I have the best backup a girl could ask for with me on this one."

"I love you darling." She finished by kissing my cheek as a couple tears slid down her cheeks.

"I love you too," I replied hoarsely.

She gave me one last encouraging smile before she turned her attention back to cleaning the already spotless kitchen. Once she looked like she was distracted, I slipped out the door to meet the men at the car. It appeared to me that the four of them had exchanged all of their well wishes and pleasantries and were ready to get our show on the road.

Bill met me close to the stairs and gave me a huge hug.

"I don't know how to put into words how thankful I am for all of the work you've done Addy. I love you so much. You come home safe to us, you hear?"

"I love you too Bill. I promise I'll do my best like I always do."

I then joined the other three hunters as they were discussing the final details of the mission. Bobby shook each of the brother's hands and they climbed into the car. Bobby turned to me and when I saw the concern in his eyes, I bent down and hugged him.

"We'll be okay Bobby. I promise."

He held my face in his hands and stated, "You better take care of each other out there today Koala Bear. Just make sure you ALL get back here safe and sound, okay?"

"That's my plan Bobby. I don't… I mean… We will Bobby, we will."

He gave my hand one last reassuring squeeze, and then I climbed into the back seat of the Impala. While I was putting on my seat belt, I felt my phone vibrate.

"Hello? Oh, hey Luke… Oh? Okay. No, that's fine… Thanks for checking. Yeah… okay… Thanks again. You too. Bye."

Sam and Dean had turned to look at me and I instantly felt nervous butterflies fluttering in my stomach.

"So?!" They questioned in unison when I remained completely silent.

"Oh… that was Luke. Meg is there right now. That gives us at least a 20 minute head start to get to the Henderson's place."

They both smiled hopefully while I tried to settle on a feeling of either pure elation or sheer terror.

"So are we all ready then?" Dean asked trying to settle everyone in the car.

Sam and I nodded then answered in unison, "Yes, let's do this!"


	18. And now everything's familiar But nothing feels the same

Dean parked the Impala about a half a mile from the barn and we all double checked that it was completely concealed by the trees and bushes. Sam started to hand out the weapons from the trunk, ensuring that each of us was equipped with the prerequisite demon fighting weapons: holy water, rock salt and our favorite gun filled with the appropriate ammunition. Sam armed himself with the infamous Colt and attempted to hand Dean a knife with a serrated blade and etchings I didn't recognize. At first Dean protested at taking it from his younger brother, but Sam gave him a pleading look that forced Dean to comply with Sam's wishes.

"What's the big deal with the knife guys? The Colt I get, but why does it matter if someone carries some random knife?" I asked more than somewhat confused as I tossed my jacket onto the backseat of the car.

"I matters because Sammy was given this knife by a… uh… someone… and well Lay, it can kill demons," Dean said.

"Oh my God! Is that THE knife that Bobby told me about?"

They both nodded while keeping their gaze solidly fixed on the ground.

"Okay, so we're ready to finish this then," I announced happily without acknowledging their unease. I couldn't help but smile at the thought that we wouldn't just be able to stop Meg, but that we could in fact kill her. Dead was so much better in my mind than just exorcised and sent back to Hell.

"We all know our entry points, right? And then we'll meet in the middle... Understand?"

Sam and I nodded our understanding of Dean's directions. We then made our way through the woods as a group in the direction of the abandoned barn as quietly and quickly as we could. Suddenly Dean held my hand and then he slowed our pace so that Sam was a good distance ahead of us. When he stopped, I turned to look at him and question what he was doing with what I was sure was an angry scowl on my face.

Before I could get out any words, Dean pulled me into a kiss then hugged me tightly and said, "Lay, no matter what we find in there, remember we're here for you, okay?"

As he held me lovingly, I nodded against his chest and said, "Yeah, I know… I know. Thank you for that… and for everything."

"And just like Bobby said, we have to look out for each other. So… be careful and wait for Sam and me if anything looks like it might get out of hand, alright?"

"Okay. I promise that I will," I stated before I pulled his face down to mine and kissed his lips. We then turned and quickly caught up with Sam.

The three of us reached the edge of the woods where the broken down brown building came into view.

"Look! No cars!" I exclaimed with a little too much enthusiasm.

"Remember Lay that just means that Meg hasn't made it back yet. We don't know who else could be in there right now. We all have to keep on our toes right now, okay?"

"Right… right… no tunnel vision," I said with a weak smile.

"Alright, I guess I'll make my way to that farthest door," Sam said before turning and wrapping his arms around me. "Be careful Addy."

He then turned and nodded a silent wish of luck to his brother before making his way to his designated point of entry.

As I watched Sam make his way to the barn, I felt Dean grab my hand again. I turned to face him and he caressed my cheek with his right hand. Then he said firmly, "Lay, you make sure that we get a chance to have that discussion, understand? You… "

I stood up on my tip toes and kissed his lips before saying, "I'll wait for backup if anything looks like it might get too hairy, promise. Let's just do everything we can to get him home safe, okay?"

He pulled me close for one last kiss, and then we headed out to our own respective entry points. I took the front door because it seemed, at least to the three of us, like the least likely place for Meg or any of Lucifer's minions to be hiding. I didn't argue when Sam and Dean told me I would be entering into an area where I would be improbable for me to immediately meet any action. I didn't argue because I had yet to see the face of the Devil and they would be able to recognize him straight away. Plus, the two Winchesters each had a fancy demon killing weapon, so I was more than happy to leave them to the fighting and killing. My only goal for the day was to find Toby and get him safely home.

The profoundly weathered wooden door and its nearly completely rusted hinges protested at my attempt to open it. I didn't want to press my luck, so once I had pulled the door wide enough for an opening that I thought I could slip through, I took my chances. I had slightly underestimated the width of the opening and snagged my left arm on a wayward nail. Thankfully I was wearing long sleeves, so I was spared acquiring yet another battle scar, at least for now.

By this hour of the day, the sun was high in the sky and it filtered through the cracks that had grown in the roof. This helped me while I took a moment to gain my bearings in this unfamiliar terrain. The room appeared to be the stables that Uncle Bill had described, but it wasn't nearly as large as he had said it would be. It was now isolated by two walls that cut if off from the rest of barn.

 _Crap! I wonder what other changes Steve made that Uncle Bill didn't know_   _about._ I cursed silently to myself as my eyes did another sweep of the room I found myself in.

I easily made out the three stalls that had once been the home of Jenny's prized possessions years ago, but it looked like it had been decades since anyone had paid them any care and attention. The closest one to my position was missing its door and although the wood on the other two looked quite rotten, they were secured closed. In the far corner, just past the three stables, there were some blankets, a bag and a few other supplies that gave the impression that someone had set up camp in this room.

"So much for missing out on the action," I quietly said to myself as I pulled out my Colt 1911 from its holster in the small of my back.

I instinctively popped the clip out of the handle to check the ammunition and snapped it back into place without actually looking at the bullets. I don't know why I checked the ammo like that every single time I set out on a mission because I was never without the same salt soaked lead rounds that were housed in the clip since I had learn that trick from a hunter I had met after I finished high school. I guess it was just a habit now and the superstitious side of me wouldn't allow me not to do the check.

I slowly made my way over to the stalls, listening for any movements that might be cause for concern. Since the first was missing its door, I could easily make out that it contained nothing more than a tattered, unusable saddle. I peaked over the door of the second and this stall was also relatively empty. It had only a bale of hay that smelled overwhelmingly musty from rotting in the barn.

I took a deep breath and gagged slightly at the smell of the decaying hay. I don't know what I was hoping to find on the other side of the last door, but I steadied myself and braced for the worst before crawling over to it. As I made my way over, I heard someone or something move inside the stall. It sounded like it was near the back, so I slowly approached the door to look over it. I cautiously peaked over the edge and raised my firearm as I checked on what I was going to be dealing with. I could see a figure in the far left corner, but I couldn't distinguish who it might be.

They shifted in an attempt to get into a more comfortable position and he was now facing me. He seemed to focus must faster than myself and was able to stifle his scream. As his mouth hung gaped open, recognition hit me and I whipped my gun down and placed it back in its holster. I then instinctively raised my left index finger to my lips.

"Shh... Toby it's me," I said quietly.

His eyes softened and he started to cry silent tears. Toby's left arm was shackled to the back wall and was raised above shoulder level, severely restricting his movement.

I didn't bother trying to waste time opening the door and easily hopped over it to make my way to the young boy. He was still clothed in his jeans and baseball jersey that he had been abducted wearing. A couple of glaring differences in his appearance from when he was last seen at his school were that his jersey was no longer snow white with candy apple red trim, instead it was a dingy grey color spattered with blood and dirt all over the front of it. Also, the sleeves of his matching red undershirt were torn to make room for crude blood soaked bandages on both arms.

"Addy… you're here…" he said between sobs.

"Yeah, Buddy I am and I brought my friends with me. We're going to get you out of here," I said before I knelt down to give him a hug.

"Ow… ow ow," he said with a whimper. "I'm sorry, but…  but my arm really hurts."

"Oh geez, no I'm so sorry Tobs. I'm going to take a look at it, but I need you to stay really still okay? I'll try my best not to hurt you, but no matter what I do I'm sure it's going to be uncomfortable. You understand what I mean, right Buddy?"

He nodded and bit his bottom lip trying his best to be brave, but the tears streaming down his cheeks confirmed that he really was just a scared 12 year old boy to me. His shoulder must have been burning in pain after the first day, but I hoped that the lack of blood circulating into that area had made it numb by now. My first priority became unlatching the shackles so that he could be more comfortable.

"Shi… crap!" I said with a mutter. The handcuffs and their chain looked brand new and would be more difficult to open than I had originally anticipated.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before turning back to Toby.

"So Tobs… it looks like it's going to take a bit longer than I'd hoped to get you out of here Buddy. Do you think you can…?"

The sound of a door opening silenced me and Toby instinctively covered his mouth with his hand to keep himself from making a sound. The door thudded shut before we heard the clacking sound of heels on the dilapidated wooden floor boards.

Since they sounded like they were headed in our direction, I swiftly crawled towards the door of the stable. I made my best effort to conceal my presence by pressing myself up against the back of the door and held my breath while I waited for the newcomer to reveal themself.

"So how are we doing in here today?" A sickly sweet female voice asked above me. "Ugh, crying again are we? Well no worries, it'll all be over soon."

_Meg!_

She had rested her elbows on the top of the door to look down at Toby. Before I knew it, I had shot up into a standing position while connecting a right uppercut punch into her jaw. At the impact, she stumbled backwards in a complete daze.

"Toby, cover your eyes! No matter what, don't move until I get back!" I called out with determination and a mix of hatred.

He knew better than to cross me and quickly nodded in understanding. He then turned towards the back wall and wrapped his free arm over his face.

I again hopped over the door while connecting a roundhouse kick to Meg's chest. Before she could regain her footing, I connected a hard right into her cheek.

"What the…?" Meg said while she stepped back and shook her head.

I attempted to land another quick punch, but she recovered quickly to grab my hand and squeezed my fist tightly. Her head shot up and I looked deep into her oil black eyes.

"Adelaide? And here I thought we were friends," she said in a mock hurt tone.

She used her free hand to grab me by the throat, looked me up and down while narrowing her eyes and asked, "So why the hell are **you** here?"

She squeezed my throat slightly and I choked out, "Fuck you! That's why!"

"Tsk tsk tsk… Such language in front of the young boy."

Meg pulled me by the throat close to her to say something into my ear, but stopped as our faces got so close that they were almost touching. Instead her ink black eyes grew wide with excitement. As a sadistic grin spread across her face, Meg asked, "Dean? Is my Deanno here too?"

I stared at her and as panic struck me I was unable to conceal my fear. She loosened her grip ever so slightly and I managed to ask, "How did you…?"

She sneered and interrupted, "I can smell him on you. So just you and Dean or did you bring little Sammy too?"

"No…it's JUST me," I said. "I came alone to get my Toby."

"You're alone, huh?" Meg said as she crushed my larynx again so that I could barely breathe, let alone think of talking. "I don't like being lied to Adelaide."

She then lifted me off the ground by my throat and tossed me against the wall with the door that she had entered through. My back and right side took the brunt of the force and I landed hard on my side, crumpled in a ball on the ground. Meg gathered her thoughts while walking over to Toby's cell and looking briefly at him. She stood there for a couple of seconds before turning back towards me.

"Well… if he's 'your' Toby, then I guess we both know where he got those pretty green eyes from." She leaned down over me, lifted my chin up and whispered into my ear, "So does that mean you were a good 'lay'?"

I looked up at her as I tried to straighten myself into a seated position as I replied through gritted teeth, "Go to hell."

"Been there, done that Sweetheart. I prefer it up here, but thanks anyway."

She then grabbed the neck of my shirt to force me into a seated position. She reared back her right arm and connected a series of hard punches into my abdomen and ribs. Feeling satisfied with the damage incurred, she lifted me to my feet and threw me against the closed door of the horse stable where Toby was confined. This time, it was my back that took the full force of the blow and I felt my gun dig uncomfortably into the tender flesh of my lower back. The wind was completely knocked out of me and I gasped desperately trying to get some air into my lungs. Before I could regain my breath, Meg stepped up to my limp body and kicked me a couple more times in the left side of my torso. She finally paused to laugh at her handiwork and I took the opportunity to expel a mouthful of blood. I sat up with my back against the door and Meg knelt down beside me.

"Okay Adelaide, I'll ask you again… Who else is here with you?" Meg asked as she pressed a hand into my battered ribcage.

"No one!" I said, crying out through the searing pain. "I told you! I'm alone… it's just me, I swear."

"Oh Adelaide, I'm disappointed," she said as she stood up and shook her head. "I thought you would have wanted to set a better example for your little Toby."

She finished off by delivering another swift kick to my stomach and I doubled over as blood and saliva dripped out of my mouth while I once again tried to force my body to remember that it needed to breathe.

She pulled me again to my feet by my shirt, pushed my hair out of my face and smiled.

"Well fine, LAY, if you aren't going to tell me what I want to know, then I really don't have a use for you." She continued to smile as she pet my face. "It's a shame too, Lay. I was actually starting to like this small town because of you. But I guess all good things must come to an end. Don't they Lay?"

During her beatings and speeches, Dean had been able to sneak into the room and our eyes connected. I grabbed her jacket saying, "Dean's the only one who gets to call me that!"

I gave her as hard a shove that I could muster and she landed in Dean's arms. Meg reached up and stroked Dean's face saying, "Deanno… I knew you were here. Miss me?"

"Not one bit Meg," Dean said with a sneer. He pulled out Sam's knife and plunged it into her chest, not wanting to continue the verbal sparring any farther.

I had fallen to my knees, my body too battered to hold up my own weight at the moment. I watched in awe as her whole body flickered orange, black and white, almost like a dying flame. Without a moment's hesitation, Dean retrieved the knife from her chest and ran to my side.

"Lay... Lay?"

"I'm okay Dean… I'll be fine." I said while spitting out another mouthful of blood and saliva. "Toby… get Toby out… He… he's cuffed in… in there."

"Okay… but are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes… Dean, go," I said more confidently than I was actually feeling.

He hurdled over the door and went to check on the young boy. I crawled over to Meg's corpse hoping to find a key for the cuffs because I knew that we needed to find them to truly free Toby from his cell.

Dean stood up and said, "Lay, even if I break the wood here, we'll still need something to unlock the cuffs."

I lifted a key ring and smiled, saying, "Then I guess these will come in handy."

I struggled to get to my feet and slowly made my way towards the stable. Dean met me at the door and caressed my cheek as he took the keys from my hand. A tear of relief slid down my cheek as I smiled at him with blood still dripping from my mouth and down my chin.

"I'm fine, go," I quietly ordered.

He then turned and went to his previous task of unshackling Toby. Even with the cuffs being unfastened, Toby still kept his eyes covered with his right arm. Dean picked up his frail frame and Toby quickly hid his face in Dean's neck as he was being carried over to where I was barely keeping myself in a standing position.

When Dean got over to the door, I lightly squeezed the back of Toby's neck and whispered in his ear, "It's okay Buddy, you can look now. I'm done with all the scary stuff."

Toby lifted his head, twisted his body and threw his arms around my neck while crying out, "Oh Addy! Get me out of here, please? Before anyone else comes back! Please?"

He was sitting on the door and I hugged him as tightly as I could in that moment before replying, "Of course Tobs, I'd like to do nothing more than to do just that."

Dean jumped over to my side of the door and wrapped an arm around my waist and the other around Toby in a relieved hug. After a moment of family bonding he finally stated, "Okay you two, let's get out of here."


	19. And my dusty mouth is empty 'Cause there's nothing left to say

Dean turned with Toby hugged tightly against his side in one arm while the other was still wrapped around my waist. We had completely forgotten about meeting up with Sam and made our way to the still open door I had originally entered through into the barn.

THUMP!

"What the hell?" A male voice asked behind us. "Meg... Meg?"

Dean slowly set Toby down. "You two hide," he said in a hushed tone as he unsheathed the knife again thinking that he was dealing with another demon henchmen of the Devil.

I gently guided Toby towards the first stall I had encountered and said, "Tobs, you hide in here okay? We'll be back soon."

He nodded and quickly scrambled to conceal himself behind the tattered saddle.

As I made my way to join Dean, the male looked up from Meg's corpse and asked, "Did you do this to her?"

"Yeah… she had it coming for a while now," Dean said with a tone of satisfaction.

The grieving man moved at the speed of light and grabbed Dean by the throat. "Butcher!" He hissed as he threw Dean through a rotting wall.

He then turned his attention to me and I knew my gun would pretty much be useless, "Rene…" I mumbled out in shock.

"Adelaide," he replied with pure hatred dripping from his tone. "I should have known! Someone I love dies and you're never far behind, are you?"

"Well that's what happens when you join a demon plot to hurt my family, Rene. You should have stayed out of it."

I circled around in an attempt to put some distance between Toby and the two of us. I looked over at the hole in the wall, but Dean still appeared to be unconscious, so I hoped to keep Rene's focus solely on me.

"Stayed out of it?" He looked and sounded genuinely confused. "We were just passing through on our way for a vacation. Then we got stuck in this Godforsaken town…" He bore his vampire teeth now and finished with, "But now I can finally take care of you, so I guess it's not a total loss."

He lunged towards me and I ducked to my left. To my dismay, Meg had most likely broken a rib or two and the movement caused such a blinding pain that I ended up on my knees doubled over in pain.

Rene was quick to take advantage of my weakened state. He grabbed me into his arms and clamped down on my collarbone taking a deep, long drink.

"Mmmm… I knew our little baseball player tasted familiar. So someone got 'laid' pretty good, huh?" He licked his lip in satisfaction.

"Screw you Rene. I told you before; no one calls me that and lives!"

I struggled to get away, but he squeezed the front of my torso tightly against the front of his body. Then he gingerly turned my chin so that he could get a better look at the fading bruise under my eye.

"Looks like somebody did quite a number on your face. Wouldn't have been my friend Jax, would it?" He asked gleefully.

"Even if it was, I wouldn't be smiling so smugly because Sam and Dean made sure to take care of him. So he won't be hurting anyone else… ever again," I said trying to sound stronger than I felt.

He closed his eyes and sadly asked, "Jax too?"

After a few seconds he opened his eyes and glared at me. He then sneered and jabbed his thumb into his bite mark on my neck. Despite my best effort, I cried out loudly in pain and his grin grew wider.

"I wouldn't sound so self righteous, Laide… Heh, 'Laide'… guess that's more than fitting since you're completely screwed now."

He leaned down and started to take another insatiable drink from my neck.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Sam said as he leveled the Colt to take a shot at Rene's back.

I was starting to pass out from Rene's tight grip restricting my oxygen intake and from the amount of blood he had greedily drank, so I didn't actually hear the shot. The only way I knew that Sam had done anything was that I felt Rene release me from his grasp so that I could suck in some much needed air.

Sam quickly ran to my side and whipped off his flannel shirt to press it against my gaping neck wound. I looked up at him and weakly smiled.

"I told him no one lived after calling me 'Laide'," I joked proudly once Sam was in ear shot.

Sam helped me to my feet and we walked towards the now upright Dean.

"Umm… if I recall correctly, Dean did and he's still with us," Sam said with a small grin.

Dean wrapped me in a half hug and I said with a chuckle, "Well he's a special case though, isn't he Sam?"

We all shared a laugh as we made our way to Toby's hiding place.

"Toby… Tobs? It's okay, you can come out now," I said feeling increasingly weaker from the blood loss and lack of oxygen. I nearly stumbled and would have fallen to my knees if Dean hadn't of been there to help to keep me upright and on my feet.

"Really? There's no one else?" Toby called out from behind his hiding spot.

"No Buddy, it's just Sam, Dean and I. Honest… come on out." I tried my best to sound strong even though I was ready to drop at any second.

"Oh Addeeee!" He exclaimed as he came running out, arms outstretched and knocked me down as he hugged me.

"Oomphf… Tobs, take it easy Buddy," I said with a small smile sounding much weaker with each word I spoke.

"Oh sorry! Ow!"

He looked down at his left arm and there was a small stream of blood trickling down it and dripping off his pinky finger.

Dean had immediately knelt down at my side when Toby knocked me over and grabbed his arm gently as Toby sat in my lap.

"Looks like you opened up one of your cuts there Little Man… Sam and I can fix that up for you if you want," Dean said.

Toby's bottom lip quivered, tears flowed out of his eyes and he could only nod as a response. As we all sat there, we heard the flutter of angel wings and Castiel was then standing behind Dean and I. Toby's eyes grew as big as saucers and his jaw dropped open.

"Ahhhd… Ahhhdddee…" he stammered.

"It's okay Toby, that's our friend Castiel," Sam said as he kneeled down to console him. He placed a reassuring hand over Toby's right hand to calm the young boy.

Toby nodded in understanding and closed his mouth. His eyes remained completely fixed on the only adult left standing in the room.

"Hhow'd… how'd heee…" Toby tried to ask.

I wiped away his tears and Dean helped me to stay seated upright. As I caressed Toby's cheek with my hand, I said, "He's one of God's angels, Buddy. He can appear and disappear in the blink of an eye."

He seemed to easily accept that explanation and when he realized that none of us were afraid of the new-comer, he quickly changed his tune.

"Cool! Do you have wings too? Do you hear prayers? Can you kill demons? Have you been to heaven? What's it like? What's God like? Is Jesus as cool as my mom says he is? Will I go to hell if I don't eat my vegetables?" He asked in his characteristic rapid fire fashion when he was excited.

"Toby…Toby… Buddy, all in good time. Let's get you fixed up first and then I'm sure Castiel would be happy to answer any questions you have," I chimed in for the Angel's benefit. When I looked up at Castiel, he looked completely overwhelmed and almost ready to vomit. I reached up and touched the angel's hand and said, "It's okay Castiel. He's just excited to meet an **actual** angel. You don't really have to answer ALL those questions."

Castiel quickly regained his composure and furrowed his brow ever so slightly, "No Adelaide, I would be happy to answer all of Tobias' questions…"

"Later Castiel… later, please?" I interrupted him with a pleading tone.

Dean helped me to my feet and brushed off some hay from my jeans. Toby had hopped to his feet but the throbbing pain radiating from his left arm quickly brought him out of his feelings of euphoria.

"Ow!" He cried out softly.

"Would it be best if I took Tobias home now?" Castiel asked.

"NO!" I quickly shouted out. The three men looked at me in bewilderment. "Sorry… Thank you Castiel for the offer, but Maureen can't see him like this. Not yet, please?"

"She's right Cas, we should at least clean up those cuts first," Dean stated after realizing my logic.

"Yes, I understand," the angel replied. "I wish I could do more to help."

I lightly squeezed his hand and said, "Don't worry about it. I'm sure we'll abused your powers sooner or later."

Sam was helping Toby walk out of the barn and when Toby wavered, he quickly scooped his nephew into his arms before Toby could fall. He then easily carried the injured boy out to the Impala to tend to his wounds. Dean had a protective arm wrapped around my waist, helping me to walk towards the door.

"Dean… there's something I need to do… you know 'clean up'." I winked and flashed him a devious grin.

"Lay? What are you thinking?" He asked with amused suspicion.

"Well Meg is… WAS a smoker and Steve's been wanting to tear this place down… we've got two bodies…" I slyly replied.

"Alright, but don't take too long," he said and kissed my right temple.

"Thanks Dean." I truly did appreciate that he was willing to let me do the clean up on my own without any protests.

Castiel looked completely confused and Dean nodded his head towards the door. "I'll explain outside Cas," he said with a soft laugh.

When I was finally alone, I walked over to Meg and pulled out her pack of cigarettes and lighter. I lit two cigarettes and took a long drag to make sure that they were burning vigorously. I then tossed one into a pile of newspapers and flung the other one in the opposite direction into a pile of dry hay. I waited a couple of moments to ensure that the fire was burning when I caught sight of an old oil lantern. I picked it up and tossed it in the direction of the first fire I had lit. It blew up and the fire started to spread rapidly. The smoke the fires were producing infiltrated my lungs and I broke out into coughing spasms. The pain caused by the coughing momentarily incapacitated me and I barely made it to the door for fresh air.

As I clung to the door, Dean and Castiel turned and ran towards me.

"Lay?" Dean asked, sounding panicked.

I coughed and spat out a mouthful of black saliva and said, "I'm okay… just… smoke…"

"Cas, get her to the Impala. I'll make sure this is taken care of here," Dean ordered.

"Of course Dean." And in a blink of an eye, Castiel and I were at the Impala.

I continued to cough deeply, unable to catch my breath for a moment.

"Adelaide? What can I do to aide you?" Castiel asked as he lightly placed a hand on my back.

I leaned against the fender of the Impala and put my head between my knees, trying to take a few deep breaths. I waved him off and after gasping in a few breaths I said, "I'll be okay Castiel. I just inhaled a lot of smoke. Just give me a second…"

To my relief, Sam emerged through the bushes with Toby now riding on his back and both were laughing happily. When Sam saw me doubled over, sucking in deep breaths of air, he stopped abruptly and slipped Toby off of his back.

"Addy, how'd you…?"

Before he could finish, I pointed towards the Castiel who was standing by the trunk of the Impala. The angel had his head bowed and his hands were folded in front of him, giving us the impression that he was praying.

"Oh," Sam said softly.

"Cool!" Toby said excitedly. "Can I try that?"

"Maybe later Buddy," I said with a chuckle now that I was breathing with ease. "We'll have to check with your mom first. Now let's get you cleaned up."

Sam pulled out the two First Aid Kits he and Dean kept in the Impala and started to tend to Toby's cuts. I grabbed a bottle of peroxide, another of water, some gauze and tape then stepped to the opposite side of the car.

After I poured some peroxide on my vampire bite, I hissed in a breath, "Faaaa…"

"Adelaide, may I assist you?" Castiel asked behind me.

I poured some water onto my collarbone to clean off the peroxide and used some gauze to dry the wound.

"If I hold onto this, could you tape it down for me?" I answered.

"Yes, I can do that for you," he said and started to apply the tape.

As Sam was putting the finishing touches on Toby's bandages and Castiel was taping mine, we all heard a very loud explosion.

"Dean!" I shrieked out sounding more than afraid. "Castiel! You have to find Dean!" I grabbed his arms as I yelled at him.

"I'm sorry Adelaide; I'm not able to…"

Before he finished his statement, Dean ran up to us laughing jubilantly as he nearly fell over.

"Dean!" I ran over and hugged his neck.

"Ha! Did you hear that?" He said with a beam. "I found a couple of small propane tanks and thought they would help."

"Sounds like it did," Sam said as he stood up, straightening his large frame with the roll of his shoulders.

"You okay?" Dean looked down at me with loving concern and held my face in his hands.

"Fine… now." I smiled back at him.

"Addy! Sam gave me stitches!" Toby said triumphantly as he emerged from the Impala complete oblivious to what else had happened.

I instantly turned my attention to the younger male and scooped him into a hug.

"Isn't that cool?" He asked.

"Sure is Buddy," I replied in a quiet whisper. I took a deep breath as tears of relief were trying to over take me. "Ready to go home Tobs?"

"Yes! Can we go now?" He asked.

Dean tossed the keys to Sam, "You drive Sammy. Let's get out of here."

I crawled into the back seat and Toby curled into my lap. Dean got into the opposite side and I put my head on Dean's shoulder. When Sam looked into the rear view mirror, he smiled to himself as he took in the picture of Toby wrapped protectively in the arms of his biological parents. Dean kissed my forehead then caught his brother's gaze in the mirror and the two Winchester men exchanged relieved smiles.

"Sam, do you know the way back to Adelaide's?" Castiel asked from the passenger seat.

"Huh? Oh, yeah Cas, I think I got it."

Sam then turned over the engine and we all sat back as he guided the car to my house.


	20. Lover Don't try to dry your eyes

I had fallen asleep in the backseat of the Impala on the drive home and when I awoke, I was alone in the car while it sat in my driveway. Waking up like that left me somewhat disoriented and for a brief moment I felt panic stricken because at that moment I thought that Toby's rescue had only been a dream. I leaned over to pick my jacket up off the floor and my whole left side screamed in protest, proving that the beatings I had endured were in fact very real.

"Shitfuck!" I cried out as I quickly leaned back on the seat.

"Good to see you're awake, Sleeping Beauty," Dean said behind me through the now open door of his car. "Everyone's been asking about you, but I didn't want to disturb you."

I hissed in a breath trying to force the throbbing in my side to sub-side.

"Think you can give me a hand out Prince Charming?" I attempted to move my left arm behind me to have him help me out, but the pain wouldn't allow me to have that range of motion.

"Here, let me," he offered as he slipped one hand behind my back and another under my legs to gently slide me and lift me out of the car. Once I was in his arms, he closed the door with his hip and I hugged his neck.

"Maybe I should walk in… I don't want to…" I started to say, but he stopped me by kissing me softly.

After he gently placed my feet on the ground, he held my face in his hands and said, "No explanation needed. But heads up… Toby already told everyone about the fights, so they're expecting you to be injured."

"Oh no! How bad did he make it sound?" I asked as I struggled slightly to get up the stairs.

"Don't worry… he actually made you sound like you were Xena," Dean said with a bemused chuckle.

"Oh, great!" I sighed then snickered to myself.

When I made it to the kitchen, everyone was at the breakfast nook drinking hot chocolate. Toby had changed into a pair of my old sweatpants and oversized t-shirt. He also looked like he had washed up and someone had redressed his wounds. When he saw me, he jumped off his seat and ran towards me, but stopped just before he collided with my body again.

"Addy! Want some hot chocolate? Mom gave me extra marshmallows, she might give you might give you extra too!"

"Sure Toby that would be great."

Toby took my hand and courteously led me to his chair. After I sat down, he shimmied onto my lap and continued to drink his hot chocolate contently. Bobby, Dean and Sam watched the scene with fascination, not knowing that this was a normal occurrence when I was visiting the Connors. Maureen poured a mug of hot chocolate and placed it in front of me along with four extra strength Advils.

"After you all have rested up a bit, I'll make some dinner," Maureen said with a smile from the other side of island.

"That sounds great, Auntie Mo," I finished with a yawn after swallowing the pills with a mouthful of my drink. "But I think I might take a nap first."

Toby turned and hugged my neck and said, "Already? Really… Hope you have a good sleep Addy."

"Thanks Buddy," I said and squeezed him softly.

He then whispered into my ear, "Mom's trying to make me have one too, but I'm not tired."

I chuckled and whispered back," Well you should do what your mom tells you to Tobs."

He looked over at his mom and gave her a sheepish grin then slid off my lap to collect the empty mugs around the table. The three hunters seemed surprised by Toby's politeness and offered their thanks in a state of mild awe. I shook my head, smiling at their shock then gingerly got up to make my way to my room.

"Please wake me up when dinner's ready Maureen," I said as I left the kitchen. "Night all."

"Of course darling, sleep well," she said with a warm smile.

"Hey Lay! Let me give you a hand," Dean said as he jumped up and hurried to my side.

As he wrapped a supportive arm around my waist, I knew it was futile to resist so I quietly accepted saying, "Thanks Dean."

Once we got to my room, I sat on my bed and tried to remove my ripped shirt to get into something more comfortable. Dean heard my hisses as I tried to keep from screaming in agony and came over to still my hands.

"Lay your shirt is ruined, right?" He asked in earnest. I nodded while gritting my teeth and then he pulled out a pair of scissors from the drawer of his nightstand. "Why don't I make this easier for you?"

"Thanks Dean, that's a great idea."

I tried to relax while Dean carefully cut the seams of my shirt. I cringed twice; the first was when I felt the cold steel on my flesh and the second was when Dean's knuckles accidentally hit the swelled bruising on my side.

"Damn, sorry Lay," he said each time. Then he gently removed the pieces of my shirt off my body and tossed them into the trash can beside the bed.

"Why don't you lie back and I'll check those ribs to make sure they aren't broken?"

I nodded and put my head on what had become Dean's pillow. As I took a deep breath, he pressed lightly on the bottom left side of my rib cage. I winced, but reminded myself that Dean needed to inflict a minor amount of pain to survey the damage. About every 30 seconds he offered apologies because of the discomfort he knew he was causing me. To work through the pain, I just closed my eyes tightly and kept breathing deeply, trying not to focus on the sensitive pressure points. He finished his examination by pressing down on the tape on both of my gauze covered wounds. I still had my eyes closed tightly trying to contain my cries of agony when the feeling of Dean's lips pressing on mine startled me.

After my eyes flew open, he smiled and said, "I don't think any of them are broken, but you still should take it easy for a bit. After we get you into something to sleep in, I'll go down and get you some ice to put on those bruises."

As he searched my drawers for a button up night shirt, I unbuttoned my jeans and partially shimmied out of them. Dean carried the shirt over and pulled my jeans off the rest of the way. I sat up so that he could dress me for my nap. While he did, I just stared at him, feeling completely overwhelmed by his compassion. Once he was done, I leaned over and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you Dean. Thank you for everything," I said and my voice broke as tears threatened to overtake me.

Dean knew that hugging me would be hurt me too much, so he squeezed my knees and kissed my forehead then said, "You're welcome. Now, you should rest. I'll get the ice."

As he tucked me in, we heard a soft knock at the door.

Dean answered it and I heard a tentative voice explain, "Mom asked me to bring this up. She said it should help keep Addy's swelling down."

"Thanks Little Man. Um…" Dean looked back at me and I nodded with a smile to let him know it was okay for him to invite Toby to come in and see me.

"Why don't you bring it into her?" Dean asked as he opened the door wider to let Toby step in.

"Hey Buddy. Thanks for the ice. Why don't you put it right here on my left side for me?" I smiled warmly at his kind heart.

"Here?" He asked to confirm that he had put the icepack in the proper place.

"Perfect. Thanks Toby, that's a huge help."

He had crawled onto my side of the bed to put the icepack into place and sat there for a couple of seconds just looking down at me looking quite despondent.

I grabbed his hand and asked, "What's wrong Toby?"

"I'm sorry you got hurt because of me… I'll do anything to make it up to you. Just say the word!" Tears streamed out of his eyes as he apologized.

"Oh, Toby NONE of this is your fault! This is just part of the job that we do. Buddy… please don't… don't blame yourself."

Dean was now at the edge of the bed and he took my right hand and patted the young boy on the shoulder.

"Toby, Lay's right. You shouldn't blame yourself. Demons are evil sons of… they're evil and hurting people is just their idea of fun. This really isn't your fault at all Little Man," Dean said with loving firmness.

Toby nodded, wiped the tears from his cheeks and then leaned down to whisper something into my left ear. I laughed softly and squeezed his hand.

"Sure you can Buddy. Just let me shift over so you're not on the side with the most damage," I replied.

Toby jumped off the bed and held the comforter up so that I could move over then he hopped over my body and climbed in on the side of the bed that Dean had occupied the past few nights. Dean watched the scene play out with a look of uncertainty on his face. I smiled at him as Toby cuddled into my right side with my arm wrapped around him.

I looked up at the older man and shrugged slightly saying, "Sorry. He thought he might be able to sleep better this way."

Dean walked around to me, adjusted the comforter and ice pack, and then kissed my forehead.

"No problem. But… no monkey business, okay?" He teased as he walked towards the door.

"Ewww gross Dean! Sorry Addy, but I just don't think of you that way," Toby said.

"That's okay Toby; Dean was just trying to be funny." I threw Dean a bemused glare and shook my head.

"Sleep tight!" Dean called more genuinely from the door and we both swiftly drifted off to sleep.

I had a wonderful dreamless nap and was starting to wake up when I heard someone cautiously trying to wake me.

"Addy? Addy?" Toby whispered. "Mom says dinner is ready."

I had rolled over onto my right side and someone had moved the icepack so that it was still covering the injuries on my left. I smiled affectionately at him as he sat cross legged on my bed.

"Thanks Tobs. Let her know I'll be down as soon as I can, okay?"

Toby nodded in the direction of the space behind me that I couldn't see from my current position and said, "Dean said he'd help you change for dinner."

Then he stood up and jumped off the bed. "See you guys downstairs!" He called as he left.

I rolled onto my back and sat up to look at Dean. He was sitting in my recliner at the foot of the bed with his legs propped up on the bed with a blanket covering him.

"Dean? How long have you been there?"

"Not long," he lied with a yawn. He quickly changed the subject saying, "I think we can get you into this easily enough. How are you feeling?"

I stood up, pushed my shoulders back and rolled my head as my upper back popped a bit.

"Still kind of sore and stiff, but…" I took a deep breath before continuing. "It hurts less when I breath."

I undid the buttons on the night shirt and Dean got up to help me slip it off my shoulders. I could feel the heat radiating from his body against my own nearly naked one and without thinking about it; I grabbed the belt loops of his jeans and pulled him closer. I slipped my hands into the back pockets of his jeans and he reciprocated by running his finger through my hair and drew me into a passionate kiss. I tried to run my hands up his back, but my injuries halted that action and I pulled back to quietly curse, "Shit!"

"Damn! Sorry Lay," Dean said softly.

I smiled shyly. "Guess I haven't healed as much as I had hoped. It feels so lame to ask, but would you help me get dressed now? I think I'm too broken to do it alone."

He kissed my forehead and smiled. "Of course… I'd be happy to help you."

He picked up a purple, black and grey plaid button up short sleeve shirt and slipped up my arms. I started to button it from the bottom and he started at the top until we met at the middle.

"Okay, it might be easier if you sit to get your jeans on," he said.

I nodded and sat on the bed. He placed each of my legs into those of the jeans and I stood up to aid him in getting them the rest of the way on. I kissed his neck and said, "I think I've got it from here handsome."

He smiled and took a step back as I fastened the zipper and button of my jeans.

"Okay, so do you think I can fake not being in complete unbearable pain at dinner?"

Dean chuckled and countered my statement by saying, "With everyone downstairs? Do you really think you need to?"

"Damn, your right again," I said with a soft smile.

I held out my right hand and Dean took it with pleasure and we both started downstairs to meet everyone for dinner.

As we neared the bottom of the stairs we could smell the food that had been cooking and my stomach growled loudly. Sam was making his way to the dining room with Bobby through the living room and we followed their lead towards the food.

"Hey, how'd you sleep Addy?" Sam asked as we followed.

"All things considered, pretty good. Thanks."

When we got to the dining room, Dean pulled out a chair beside Toby for me and helped to push it closer to the table. He then sat beside me and Sam sat opposite him after moving the chair from the end of the table for Bobby to pull up to the table. Bill and Maureen came in with the last couple of dishes of food and Bill situated himself at the head of the table closest to Toby while Maureen sat next to Sam. After everyone was settled, Toby grabbed my right hand and I was quickly reminded of the Connor family tradition of saying Grace before their meals. Over the last couple of days we he all eaten in shifts, so we had skipped the ritual, but now that we were ALL seated together, it seemed more than fitting to give thanks.

Under the table, I took Dean's hand in mine and Bill said, "If we could all join hands and bow our heads? Lord, we'd like to give thanks for the food that we are about to receive. May it nourish our bodies and help those who need it to heal the wounds inflicted during their battles for Your glory. Lord, we would also like to give thanks for our new found family members that helped to bring our son home to us safe and sound. Please be with them as they continue Your work, wherever it may take them. In Your son's name we pray, Amen."

When I opened my eyes and raised my head, I looked at Dean and he still had his head bowed with his eyes closed tightly. I squeezed his hand slightly and his eyes fluttered open. When he turned his eyes in my direction, he gave me a warm smile.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Fine… I'm fine Lay," he answered quietly, still smiling brightly.

As Toby dished his own food, he piled meat loaf and vegetables onto my plate as well then passed the dishes over me to Dean. After Dean had finished dishing his own meal, he turned to me and asked in a hushed tone, "Want me to cut that up for you?"

Although I was extremely grateful for all the help that Dean and Toby had provided throughout the day, I was starting to feel increasingly frustrated by my apparent feebleness. I shook my head and went to raise my left hand to grab my knife, but I was almost immediately rendered immobile from the pain radiating from my ribs.

Completely defeated, I nodded and said, "If you wouldn't mind."

Dean gave my knee a reassuring squeeze then quickly cut up my loaf and vegetables into bite size pieces in silence. When he was done he squeezed my hand that was hanging limply at my left side.

Noticing my agitation at having to rely so heavily on others, Maureen attempted to divert everyone's attention away from me by saying, "I spoke with your teacher today Tobias. She thought that since tomorrow is Friday that you could stay home to recuperate and then return to class on Monday. We went over the class work that you have missed and I think it should be easy enough for you to catch up over the next week."

"Seriously? No school until Monday? Awesome!" He said excitedly.

"And I called the sheriff," Bill stated.

"Oh? And what did you tell Don?" I asked, curious how Bill had explained Toby's return to our town's Sheriff. Although he and Maureen had an inkling that Don knew about my job, they still felt that they needed to conceal the full truth from him for our protection.

"He wasn't in, so I told the deputy that Toby's abductors had taken him thinking that he was somebody else's son; a rich somebody else from whom they were hoping to get a hefty ransom. Then when they realized their error, they contacted us with an address where we would find him then you and the boys picked him up and that was that… for now at least."

"And he bought it dad?" Toby asked eagerly.

"Hook, line and sinker son."

"Awesome!"

Bobby, Dean and Sam had all paused to listen and were surprised that we were talking about lying to the authorities in front of Toby so openly.

Toby caught their shocked looks and laughed. "Don't worry guys; I know that if I ever lie to mom, dad or Addy that I will suffer tortures worse than anyone has ever suffered in Hell."

I choked on my water when I realized that I had used that idle threat on numerous occasions, but that was before I actually knew someone who had been tortured in hell.

"What he means," I said, trying to swiftly recover. "Is that he knows the difference between us having to mask the truth from people who don't know about our jobs and lying out right to his parents. He's been taught that one is for protection and the other will not be tolerated."

"That's basically what I said Addy, duh," Toby said before returning to his meal.

The three hunters laughed and Bobby said, "As long as he knows the difference."

"Mom… are you going to ask Addy about the 'you know what'?" Toby asked while nodding in my direction.

"Well Tobias I thought that you might want to ask her yourself," Maureen said with a smile as she took a bite.

"What's up Toby?" I asked, intrigued that I might be missing out on something important.

"Well… mom told me that Ms. Shamley said that everyone would be really excited that I was okay and that… well that a celebration might be in order…" he looked down sheepishly and played with his food as he explained. Toby had never felt comfortable being the center of attention, unless it was because of an accomplishment on the ball field.

"Okay. And?" I prodded him to continue.

"And… since you have a pool and we're all here…" he trailed off again.

"You want to have a pool party here?" I asked, hoping that I had understood his intentions correctly.

"Would you mind Addy? Mom said we could make it a pot-luck to cut down on preparations… I would help with clean up… you wouldn't have to do anything, promise! Except you know, show up and have fun," he breathlessly explained trying to convince me.

"Toby, of course you can have your party here! When were you guys planning to have it?"

"We were hoping to have it all ready for tomorrow after school, if that was okay with you Adelaide," Maureen said.

"Sounds good to me. What can I do to help?"

"Absolutely nothing young lady. You will rest then just relax and just have fun," Maureen said with a warm smile.

"Yes ma'am," I said with a nod.

"And you guys will be there too, right?" Toby said the three men at the opposite side of the table.

"Sure Toby," Sam said hesitantly because he was unsure if his brother would be willing to stay.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world Toby," Dean said with a hearty grin.

I again choked a bit on my dinner as I laughed. If only Toby knew that the world quite literally would have to wait while the Winchester brothers celebrated his safe return home.

"Well… someone will have to stay here to keep these two in line, so I'll be there too," Bobby said with a wink.

"Awesome! This is going to be so much fun!" Toby cheerfully exclaimed before turning his attention back to devouring his meal.

We then finished our dinner and Dean escorted me back to my room before I could try to attempt to help with the clean up.

Once my bedroom door was closed, Dean sat me on the bed and went to my dresser again.

"Dean, the night shirt's still right here," I called from my spot as I picked it up with my right hand.

"I know… but you usually wear boxers when you sleep. I was going to grab you a pair to throw on," he said focused on the contents of my bottom drawer.

"Oh…thanks," I said, laughing softly at his memories of our time together. "Try the bottom drawer."

I started to unbutton my top and Dean came back to where I was seated and tenderly said, "Let me do that Lay."

I dropped my hands immediately and followed his silent instructions from that moment on. As soon as I was redressed in the night shirt and boxers, Dean picked me up and carried me to the other side of the bed.

"Dean," I said. "I can still walk."

"Yeah, I know… but that was more fun."

He leaned down and kissed me as he tucked me in. Then he slipped into a t-shirt and boxers and crawled under the sheets. We rolled onto our sides and stared at each other for a few moments.

"Sweet dreams Dean."

"You too Lay."


	21. Lover Look to the desert sky

Strangely enough, that night was the first restless night I had had all week. I reasoned with myself that the nap I had taken before dinner and the brief sleep I had in the car on the way home were a more likely cause for my sleeplessness than the pain mildly radiating from my side. I didn't get out of bed because I was certain that would alarm Dean, so I just laid on my back staring at the ceiling. Since my thoughts were running wild and I decided to silently rehearse the long overdue speech I owed the man sleeping beside me.

As I lay there, I heard my door creak open and an uncertain voice quietly ask, "Addy? Addy? Are you awake?"

Toby had grown accustomed to finding me after having a nightmare because I was usually awake in the middle of the night. He also found that he could sleep better after talking with me about the best way to exterminate whichever monster crept into his dreams because he knew I had already faced most of them in real life and survived. The only creature that still seemed to still give Toby difficulties was Big Foot. No matter how many times I assured him that Big Foot really didn't exist, he still woke up terrified that he hairy beast would break into his home to eat him and his family.

"Yeah Tobs, I'm up," I said softly as I slipped out of bed and tried my best not to disturb Dean.

He hurried to my side of the bed and hugged my waist as gently as possible.

"Hey… shhh… it's okay Buddy. You're safe. Come on over here and we'll talk about it."

I shuffled over to my plush rocking recliner at the foot of my bed with Toby still attached at my waist. I sat down and he crawled into a ball on my lap. I hugged him close and rubbed his back while saying, "Can you tell me about it?"

"It… it was that vampire… " he said, but stopped and hid his face in my shoulder.

"Rene?" I asked.

He nodded then lifted his head and continued, "Uh huh… He followed us here and then he… he… went after everyone until it was just me and him. He just kept saying 'you're my dessert, you're not getting away that easily' over and over."

"Oh Toby… sweetie you remember how to kill a vampire, right?" I asked as I brushed some non-existent hair out of his face in an attempt to make better eye contact.

"Yeah… Buffy totally lied… you HAVE to cut its head off. Stake to the heart just makes them mad."

I chuckled softly at his description. "Very true. But, do you remember that gun I told you about? The one that can kill demons?"

"Yeah," he said.

"Well… turns out that it can kill vampires too. And Tobs… Sam shot Rene with that gun then Dean made sure that his body was cremated."

"So he won't be back?" He asked hopefully.

"No Buddy, there's no chance he'll be coming back," I said to him as I kissed his forehead.

He then rested his head on my shoulder and yawned saying, "That's good."

I thought he was drifting off to sleep, but then I heard him asked, "Hey Addy? Can I ask you something?"

"Anything Buddy… you know that."

"Is Dean your boyfriend…? Because if he's sleeping in your bed that kind of makes him your boyfriend, right?"

"Ummm… yeah Tobs, I guess it does."

"Do you love him Addy?"

"Toby! Where is all of this coming from?"

"Well… you look so much happier since he came to town with you, so… I was just wondering if that was because you love him."

My heart sank at the thought of Toby knowing that I had been somewhat unhappy over the years. "Yeah… Tobs… I do love him," I managed to choke out.

"Will he be staying here with you?"

"No… No Buddy he can't," I said, swallowing a lump forming in my throat so I could continue. "But that's a really long story, so I'll explain that later, okay?"

"Okay… But Addy? One more thing?"

"Go ahead Buddy."

"Does Dean love you?"

After a slight pause I said, almost inaudibly, "Yes Toby… I think he does… Very much."

He replaced his head on my shoulder.

"Yeah, I could tell," he said proudly with a yawn before he drifted off to sleep.

I pulled my legs up closer to his body so that we formed a rather large ball on the seat of the chair. I ran my right hand up and down his back while I chuckled to myself at the thought of how fleeting these moments would soon be. Toby had grown up so quickly and soon I wouldn't be able to dodge his questions so easily and he wouldn't be running to me for comfort after a nightmare.

While I held Toby tightly, I must have fallen asleep because I was awoken by Dean gently nudging me.

"What's going on Dean?" I looked over at the digital clock on my stereo. "It's barely 3 am."

"I know… Sorry. But you really shouldn't be sleeping like that Lay. It can't be good for your ribs. Please, come back to bed?" He said softly.

"Okay… you probably have a point there."

Dean gingerly picked up Toby off of my lap to carry him to bed and I said, "Don't worry Dean, he sleeps like a rock. You won't wake him."

I got up and stretched slightly then made my way back to my side of the bed. Dean had placed the still deeply sleeping Toby in the middle of the bed before he crawled back into his spot. I was on my right side looking down at Toby while Dean was on his left side doing the same thing.

As Dean affectionately stroked my arm he said, "I've seen how you are with Toby, Lay… you'll make a really great mom one day."

"Thanks Dean… you know… your fatherly instincts aren't too shabby either. I think Toby has really taken a liking to you and he can be a tough one to win over."

"Hmmm… must be something in the blood," he said.

"Dean! Shh… " I said as I pinched his side.

"Hey! You said he wouldn't wake up… and no fair, I can't tickle you back right now," he said in a hushed tone.

"Well… I guess you should go to sleep then," I playfully said quietly.

"Yes mom."

"Dean! Seriously! It hurts to laugh! You have to stop!"

"Oh, crap! Sorry Lay, I forgot," he said in earnest. "Good night Girlfriend."

"Good night Dean," I said with slight exasperation.

I was the first to wake up in the sunshine the next morning and I instinctively tried to make my whole body stretch, but cringed immediately at the pain. After stifling my screams of anguish, I rolled out of bed and smiled at the sight of the two males that were still sleeping. Dean was on his back with a protective arm around Toby, while the younger boy was on his left side, clinging tightly to one of my pillows.

I sat back in my recliner and watched them until tears started to sting my eyes while a ball of guilt formed in the pit of my stomach. Toby had an amazingly great family, that was something I had never doubted, but seeing the two of them together demonstrated the undeniable family bond between them. Meg had been right, they both shared the same beautiful green eyes, but when they were side by side… with those serene looks on their faces… the strong resemblance Toby bore to Dean became apparent as well.

The guilt I was feeling overwhelmed me to such an extent that I started to feel physically nauseous, so I grabbed my terrycloth bathrobe and quickly left the room. It was still quite early, so thankfully no one else was awake. I wasn't sure where I was running to, but I knew I had to get away for a while.

As I went down the stairs, I slipped on my robe and when I hit the bottom of the stairs I weighed my options for a quiet, secluded place to hide from everyone. I then quickly closed the blinds by the front door and slipped out onto the porch and climbed onto the slightly weathered porch swing.

Up until that moment in my room, I had never, not even for a second, doubted my decision to have the Connors raise Toby as their own son.

_Did I make the wrong decision? What if I had of told Dean about him? Would he still have gone to Hell? Could the three of us have had a chance at being a family?_

"No Adelaide, you made the right decision. Both you and Dean were too young to take on that kind of responsibility," Castiel's even tone interrupted my thoughts.

Without looking up at him, I responded saying, "Thanks for the encouragement Castiel, but I don't really feel like being around anyone right now. Okay?"

Castiel didn't acknowledge my statement and sat down beside my feet that were propped up on the seat of the swing with his hands folded in his lap.

"Adelaide, it has been my experience that when a person feels all alone and like the world has turned their back on them that that is when they need someone beside them the most. Please, tell me what is troubling you," he said determinedly while maintaining a steadfast stare with my eyes.

I glared at him and pursed my lips.

_I know you can hear what I'm thinking, so hear this! GO AWAY! Leave me alone! Go bug Dean or somebody else! I don't want or need YOUR help. It's all your fault I'm in this mess anyway!_

"Adelaide, I regret that you feel that..."

"Argh! Seriously! Castiel GO AWAY! You know if you hadn't of just popped in with your crap about a ritual that wasn't even happening… then I wouldn't have let him back into my life again! I wouldn't have seen them together! I would still be fine with the decision I made! I would… " My sobs negated my ability to speak any further. I pulled my knees to my chest and buried my face into them with my arms wrapped around my shins.

"Go away! Please… just go away," I said through near hysterical sobs.

"Adelaide… " he said as he touched my hands.

"GAH! It's your world and I'm just living in it, aren't I? Fine… If I can't make you leave, then I'll go!"

I had jumped to my feet as I screamed in his face and started down the front stairs. I had completely forgotten that I was barefoot and in my pyjamas and robe while my whole left side continued to throb uncomfortably. I was so incensed that I didn't feel the rocks attempting to cut the pads of my feet while I made my way down the driveway towards the main road.

When I hit the connection of the two roads, I felt a slight breeze and I knew that Castiel was now at my side again. Instead of acknowledging him, I decided to sing Trapt's 'Headstrong' in my head as I continued down the road.

"Adelaide, you're injured and you will only make things worse if you continue this way," Castiel said, attempting to reason with me. "Please… at least put these on."

He held out a pair of flip flops and I just gave him a sideways glance while continuing through the chorus in my head.

"LAY! LAY!"

Hearing the sound of Dean's frantic voice made me stop in my tracks. I angrily snatched the flip flops out of Castiel's hands, dropped them to the ground, wiped my feet on a patch of grass and put them on.

"You want to help me angel?" I asked him.

"Yes Adelaide, I would like very much to help you," he said hopefully.

"Go back to the house and tell everyone that I'm fine! Tell them I'm feeling much better and that I just wanted to go for a walk! Go… Go and tell them that and get the hell away from me!" I said with a tone of pure hatred in my voice.

If anyone had seen Castiel's face at that moment, they would have thought that I had smacked him with as much force as I could muster. Even with the look of shock and chagrin on his face, my anger did not waiver.

"LAY! WHERE ARE YOU?"

I stomped my foot and pointed toward the house. "GO!"

"If that is what you wish," he said meekly with his eyes cast down.

"That is what I wish… GO!" I said through clenched teeth.

"LAY!" Dean said through a yell from the porch once again. "Where the hell are you?" He finished quietly to himself.

"Adelaide is fine Dean," Castiel said as he stood behind the anxious hunter.

"Shit! Cas! What the hell?" Dean said and heaved a relieved sigh. "Okay… say that again."

"Adelaide is fine and just wanted to go for a walk," the angel said, attempting to lie uneasily.

Dean eyed him up and down suspiciously before saying, "Cas… we've been through enough together for me to know when you're not being up front. Come on, spill… "

Castiel looked down at his empty hands and said, "But Dean, I don't have a beverage."

Dean smiled, shook his head and chuckled at how literal the angel could be sometimes.

"No Cas. Dude, I meant 'Spill the beans' which is an expression for 'Tell me what you know'."

"Oh… well… As I said, Adelaide was feeling better, so she decided to go for a walk," Castiel said again.

"Cas… I like you, so I won't hurt you, but seriously… there's no way Lay goes out for a 'walk' in her pyjamas and leaves her Colt at home. So, one more time, where is Lay?" Dean asked him while trying to maintain a calm demeanor.

Castiel finally realized that Dean was not going to be fooled; he relented and decided to tell Dean the truth. "She had come out here to think because she was starting to doubt her decision to hide her pregnancy and give your child to the Connors to raise. When I tried to comfort and reassure her that she had in fact made the right choice, she got very upset with me. She… she screamed at me and stormed of and… "

"And blamed you for everything?" Dean said, finishing the thought for Castiel.

"Yes," the angel said, somewhat astonished.

"That's what Lay does Cas. When she's trying to collect her thoughts, you kind of have to leave her to it. When she's ready to talk, she'll approach you. If you push too hard before she's prepared, she'll lash out and push you away twice as hard."

The angel furrowed his brow as he contemplated what Dean had just described to him.

"Yes… yes that sounds like what happened. I believe I may have pushed her too hard. My apologies, Dean."

"It's okay Cas. Lay is a very complex woman. Plus, you're still learning about humans and all, I wouldn't expect you to have known." Dean said while attempting to console his friend. As Dean zipped up his jacket he asked, "Do you think you could take me to her?"

"But you said… "

"I know what I said, but she's hurt, physically I mean, and she's out there, alone and unarmed. I'm pretty sure I can reason with her… please Cas? She shouldn't be alone right now," he said calmly.

Castiel recognized the logic behind Dean's reasoning and nodded. "I believe it might be easier for you if I'm not there."

Before Dean could reply, Castiel tapped his forehead with two fingers. Slightly disoriented, Dean found himself in the Connor's front yard. I was sitting on a tire swing that was connected to a centuries old oak tree, twisting in circles absentmindedly.

My urge to vomit increased tenfold after screaming at Castiel. I knew he wasn't to blame, but in my fit of rage I had taken my frustration out on him. Now that I had had some time to collect my thoughts, I could finally see things from his point of view. I had grieved so many moments in my life, but I realized that I had never officially put to rest the loss of the dream of having a normal, All-American life. In a moment of weakness, I had reverted to my teenage frame of mind of wanting nothing more than to have a family with a child of my own to whom I could show unconditional love. Now that I had reflected on the situation, I knew that I had had that all along with the Connors. It wasn't in the traditional sense, but I had a hunter's version of the perfect family and that truly was what I really wanted.

"Lay?" Dean asked while approaching with caution.

I continued to twist on the swing and bit my bottom lip, too ashamed to face him. Dean stepped up, touched my back and still my motion by grabbing the tire and the rope connecting it to the tree at the same time.

"Lay?" He asked into my hair.

"You don't have to pretend to be nice to me Dean. I know I'm a total bitch… Why do I always do that? He was just trying to be nice… and what do I do? I scream at him… An angel! I deserve this hell I've created… I don't deserve to be happy… "

"Shh… don't say that… " Dean said as he pushed my hair aside to kiss my neck. "You were upset. We all say things we don't mean when we're upset… And besides, he's an angel, I'm pretty sure he HAS to forgive you. It's like in his DNA or something."

I laughed softly. "Dean, don't… don't make me laugh."

"But you have such a beautiful laugh."

"No, it's not that… it still hurts to laugh," I said quietly.

"Sorry… sorry Lay," he said before he kissed my left cheek and worked his way down to my collarbone. Unable to resist him, I succumbed to his every touch.

When he felt my tension melt in his arms, Dean went in for the kill. He slipped his hand under my robe and gently ran his fingers up and down my inner thigh and whispered between wandering kisses. "So… are you ready to talk about it?"

My whole body was tingling with sensual excitement and I softly moaned before I said, "Yes."

He slipped me off of the tire swing, pressed his lips to mine and carried me over to the front steps of the house as I ran my fingers through his hair. He set me down gently and leaned back from our embrace. I opened my eyes and dropped my hands knowing that had been his way of buttering me up to talk. I also knew that that would be the last time I would taste those lips if I didn't tell him what he wanted to know.

I took a deep breath and held both of Dean's hands in mine as I started to say, "Dean… Toby's your son… "

"Ummm… Lay? I think we had this conversation a couple of days ago," Dean said with a slight mocking tone.

"No… Dean… just give me a minute to explain. What I meant was that today I realized that even though we didn't raise Toby, he's still your… our son. He looks so much like you now and he definitely inherited your beautifully kind heart. Watching the two of you take care of me over the last couple of days made me realize how selfish I'd been all these years."

"Lay," he started to say, but I cut him off.

"No, Dean, please let me finish. Please? I've had a relationship with him since he was born, but I never allowed you to have that opportunity. When that fact hit me, I just got really mad at myself for that. I could never imagine you or Toby being that selfish."

Dean let out a hearty laugh. "Lay you are so full of shit!"

"Excuse me?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey now! I let you speak, so you've gotta let me talk. You know as well as I do that back then there was no way I would have been okay with your pregnancy. Yeah, it's true; I would have like to have known I had a son Pre-Apocalypse, but let's be honest… I wasn't exactly ready to hear it until now. It's messed up, but it took me losing my dad and then Sammy for me to finally understand what was really important in life. Then after going to hell, I decided that I was finally going to allow myself to change my priorities."

"Oh my God… Dean… " I didn't allow myself to finish that thought and we both sat there silently for a while.

When I finally looked up at Dean I asked softly, "You want complete honesty, right? I think today is… Scratch that, I know today is the first day I wanted to tell Toby the truth. I just completely ignored and forgot about Bill and Maureen and everything they've done for me. I just wanted to tell him and have the three of us live together as a family. But then I came here… "

Dean lifted my chin and encouraged me to continue by asking, "And?"

"And… I remembered this IS his home. I don't know why I doubted that. I guess all of these conflicting feelings hitting me at once just… just… "

"Overwhelmed you?"

"Yeah. Plus I slept like total crap last night so I don't think that helped."

We both chuckled. "Ow, shit," I said.

"Hey, just remember, you're the one who made the joke, not me!"

"Dean… "

He pulled me gently into a hug and kissed my forehead.

As my cheek rest against his chest I asked, "Do you really think that Castiel will forgive me?"

"I'm sure of it Lay."

After a few silent minutes of being held in Dean's arms I said, "Okay, I think my melt down is over. We should head back before everyone starts to worry."

"Ummm… when I woke up and you weren't at the house… "

"Oh man… Damn, I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. Only Cas and I know about the actual meltdown, so don't worry Lay. We'll come up with something to smooth it all over, okay?"

I pulled him closer and asked, "What did I do to deserve you?"

"You might not want to investigate that too deeply… it might not be for the reasons you think."

"Dean I'm sure you're here for the right reasons."

"Okay… well either way, we should get going."

He stood up and helped me to my feet, then we started to make our way back to my house, hand in hand.


	22. And there's no use in imagining

As Dean and I walked down the long driveway, I looked down at our intertwined fingers and asked, "So everyone was pretty worried when they got up and found me gone, huh?"

"It's because they all love you Lay… They just want what's best for you."

"So… I guess lying to them wouldn't be fair then."

Dean stopped and looked down at me and said, "Lay, you don't HAVE to do anything… I mean, you don't have to tell them everything."

"You're right… maybe I won't tell them EVERYTHING," I agreed meekly.

"They should be up and about by now. Ready?"

I took in a deep breath and gave him a crooked smile before saying, "No, but putting it off won't help either."

We made our way up the stairs, but before we could open the door, it flew open and a worried pair of green eyes was looking down at us.

"Addy? Are you okay? I'm sorry I woke you up last night. I really didn't mean to be a bother. I told mom we don't have to have the party here today… We've got everything packed up so that we can get out of your hair." Toby was staring at his feet at this point.

Despite the pain it would cause, I dropped to my knees and wrapped my arms tightly around him so that I could force him to make eye contact with me.

"Toby, none of this is your fault. Oh sweetie, please don't leave… please?"

"But Addy…" he said through a muffled voice because his face was pressed to my shoulder.

"Toby, I love you more than you know. I was upset about something, but it had nothing to do with you wanting to have a party or because you guys are staying with me. Please stay, please? I really want to celebrate with you."

He pushed out of my embrace to look me in the eye and asked, "Are you sure?"

"Positive. I should be the one apologizing to you for worrying you so much. Can you forgive me Toby?"

He looked up at me, narrowed his eyes and rubbed his chin in thoughtful contemplation while Dean kneeled down beside Toby and me.

"I'd take her up on that Toby. I've know her a long time and I think I've heard her apologize like that to anyone, ever."

"Dean," I said with a chuckle and gave him a playful punch in the arm.

"See Toby? She loves to beat me up and doesn't apologize for it."

Toby tried his best not to smile, but couldn't help it and he let out a soft laugh. Then he teased Dean, saying, "Well maybe she likes me better than you. She's always nice to me and has never tried to beat me up, not even once."

"Oh yeah? Well maybe she does like you better then me," Dean said and finished by winking at him.

Toby gave me another hug and whispered, "I know you don't like me better Addy. I forgive you. You should tell him what you told me last night."

He then threw me a playful smile and turned back into the house and said, "Mom! Dad! Addy's home and she still wants to have the party!"

I remained on my knees, momentarily too stunned to move. Seeing my lack of movement, Dean grabbed my hand and asked, "Are you okay?"

I chuckled before I said, "Yeah… fine. I think your angel has gotten to Toby."

I tried to stand up, but the pain in my side made that movement too difficult, so Dean grabbed my elbow to help me to my feet.

"Oh yeah? What makes you say that?" Dean questioned sounding amused.

"I'll explain later… but first I think I need to make a few more of those oh so rare apologies you told Toby about."

"Lay…"

"I know it was a joke Dean. Geez… You need to lighten up Winchester."

Maureen stepped out of the kitchen and approached me with slight caution. Dean kissed my cheek and said, "I'll leave you two alone to talk."

As he walked past Maureen, he squeezed her arm and smiled encouragingly.

"Adelaide… Sweetheart?"

"Maureen, I'm so sorry. Please, come sit with me?" We sat down beside each other on a couch in the living room. "I really didn't mean to scare any of you. This whole week has been such an emotional roller coaster and I just really needed some time to put it all into perspective, you know?"

"I understand sweetheart. You normally would have had some alone time by now and I know we all forgot how much you need that," she said as she held both of my hands and patted them.

"I guess I hadn't thought of it that way. Plus… when I'm PMSing, no one should bear witness to that," I said trying to lighten the mood.

"Adelaide…" Maureen said sounding like an exasperated mother.

"Sorry Maureen… but you know what I mean."

"I do darling. Now, if you need some time to yourself, you just let us know, okay? You don't have to hide that from us, understand?"

"Yes Ma'am. I think I'll take you up on that right now by jumping in the shower."

"Breakfast will be waiting for you when you come back down. But no rush, take your time. Also, there a bottle of Advil on by your sink that I had Bill buy for you and…"

I interrupted her there saying, "Thank you Mo, thank you for everything. I'll be back in a bit. Oh and please do tell Toby that I can't wait for his party."

She smiled brightly and said, "I will sweetheart, I will."

I then made my way upstairs and thankfully didn't run into anyone else. I was hoping that a good hot shower would help to wash away the ugly start to the day so that I could get back on track, mentally, for the fun that was planned for this afternoon.

I returned to my room wrapped in a towel and sat in front of my vanity. The bruise under my left eye had faded to such an extent that it had almost disappeared, so I more thoroughly scrutinized the other wounds on my body. My right arm still had Sam's makeshift stitches on it, but it looked like it had healed some more since yesterday and the bite mark on my collarbone had completely scabbed over. I was tracing the scab with my right index finger unconsciously when I caught a glimpse of someone behind me. They moved slightly which made me jump in my seat and I opened my mouth to scream for help.

"Dean told me that you might be ready to talk. Is this a bad time?"

"Oh my God, Castiel! You HAVE to stop doing that!" I said while I clutched the towel and tried to catch my breath. "Yes… I do want to talk to you. Uh… I was hoping to be fully clothed, but now is as good a time as any. Please, sit?"

The angel sat on the end of my bed, while I remained on the bench in front of the vanity. I took a moment to collect my thoughts before turning to finally face him. Meanwhile, Castiel just stared at me with a wounded and confused look on his face.

"Castiel, where do I even start?" I said, my voice breaking slightly. "You really didn't deserve any of those hurtful things that I said to you. I am so sorry. I just really needed some time to myself to collect my thoughts. I mean, so much has changed over this past week and it all just seemed to hit me at once. Unfortunately you were there just as it was all coming to a head, you know? I don't think I have ever regretted my actions any more than I do right now. Can you forgive me?"

"Adelaide, I do forgive you. Dean explained to me about your process and he told me I should have respected your wishes to be left alone. He says that I still have a lot to learn about human behavior and I think that I will look at this as a learning experience."

"Oh man, Castiel… I really don't think that you will come across anyone as screwed up as me anytime soon, so you probably won't have to deal with a situation like this again. Or at least I hope that you won't have to in the near future."

"You have met the Winchester brothers, have you not?"

"Cas!" I said, laughing a little too loudly and cringed slightly at the pain my laughter caused. "Oh my goodness. Remind me to tell Dean that there's nothing wrong with your sense of humor."

The angel smiled proudly at his achievement.

"So… uh… do we hug now? Or…" I asked awkwardly.

"I'm not familiar with the standard protocol under these circumstances. Normally I would have just sought a peaceful place for contemplation. From what I've seen, Dean would just have a beer and Sam would go and 'sulk' as Dean puts it. I will have to follow your lead in this instance Adelaide."

"So you have had some experience with these situations. Well here… I'll show you how we do things in the Connor/Jones household."

I walked over to him and took his hands in mine to help him into a standing position. I guided his arms around my waist, wrapped mine around him then I rested my head on his chest and gave him a squeeze.

"You really are a good friend Castiel. Thank you for everything. Next time that I'm a raging bitch you more than have my permission to smite me on the spot."

He looked down at me with uncertainty clouding his crystal blue eyes. "That was a joke at the end of your statement, right Adelaide?"

"Yes Castiel, it was," I said trying not to laugh at his naiveté.

He pulled me close again and said, "Good because as I told you before, I wish you no harm and would not be able to smite you, even if you asked me to."

I chuckled again before saying, "Thanks Castiel, that's good to know."

We were still wrapped in a friendly hug when we heard a soft knock at the door. Dean let himself in without waiting for answering while saying, "Lay… I thought you might need some help…"

He cut himself off at the sight of my towel covered body being hugged by his trench coat clad angel. I quickly turned around while holding onto the towel to keep it from falling and took a couple of steps away from Castiel.

"Dean! This isn't what it looks like," I said defensively.

A warm smile spread across Dean's face as he asked, "So you weren't apologizing to Cas and sealing it with a friendly hug?"

I looked at him stunned and smiled. Dean then pulled me into a hug, although I'm not sure if it was to demonstrate his understanding or it was to make sure that my towel didn't fall off in front of the angel.

"Well in that case… then yeah, it's exactly what you think it is," I said as I looked up at him and smiled cheerfully.

Dean smiled mischievously and gently pulled my head back by my hair as he leaned in to kiss me, but I shifted away saying, "Dean, manners!"

"Why? Lay… we're alone," he said seductively.

I turned slightly and saw that Castiel had made one of his characteristic sudden and silent departures.

"Oh, well in that case…" I said with a shrug while I pulled Dean's face to mine.

The two of us stumbled backwards onto the bed. My towel fell off at our impact with the mattress and Dean's hands immediately started exploring every inch of my naked body that was now exposed. He stood up and removed his t-shirt before returning to caressing my flesh with kisses.

"Dean…" I said quietly between kisses.

"Sorry… does that hurt?" He asked as he pushed himself up off my body.

"No, it's not that. What if someone walks in on us?" I asked as I started to reach for the towel to cover myself.

He laughed softly then kissed my lips while keeping his torso from toughing mine and said, "Like I said, we're alone."

"You mean everyone is out of the house?" I questioned as I started to undo the button and zipper on his jeans.

"Yep… they went into town to get supplies for the party."

"Bobby and Sam too," I said as I slid his jeans off his hips. He stood up to pull them off and I shifted so that I was in a more comfortable position on the bed.

"Bobby and Sam too. They wanted to check out your home town."

He pulled down his boxers and started to get back onto the bed. When he got within arms' reach, I yanked him down to me hungrily and smothered his mouth with my own. Dean then trailed kisses from my mouth to my neck and stopped when he reached the scabbed bite.

"What? Why'd you stop?" I asked breathlessly.

"Are you sure you're up for this? I mean… last night you couldn't even cut your own food at dinner Lay."

I raised my left hand and stroked his face lightly and reached into the drawer of the nightstand with my other hand. When I passed him the familiar silver package, Dean chuckled saying, "Guess that means you are."

Even though I had put on a brave face, my left side was still throbbing in pain. Without having to be told, Dean was more than gentle as we made love and soon my pain was completely forgotten while I was in the throes of ecstasy.

"Are you sure you're alright, Lay?" Dean asked after we both had caught our breath.

I rolled over onto my right side to look over at him and smiled. "I'm still kind of sore, but I'm good. Look! I can use this arm again."

He rolled over onto his left side and moved closer to me. As he placed his right hand on my cheek he said, "That's good to see. Nothing worse than having you out of commission."

I started tracing his tattoo with my index finger saying, "Thanks. It's nice to know that I'm somewhat useful out there. Especially since I haven't been that stellar a fighter lately."

"Hey… none of us wins them all. Sammy and I have gotten our asses handed to us on more than one occasion."

"Yeah, I know… it just sucks that I've had three fights in a row now that if you guys weren't there…"

He held my hand with his right hand and pulled me closer to his chest. I cuddled into his left side while he was on his back and he interrupted my thought saying, "But we were, so there's no need thinking about any 'what ifs', alright?"

"I know…" I sighed and pushed myself up off the bed and held his face in my hand. After leaning down to kiss him, I looked Dean square in the eyes and said, "I love you Dean Winchester. I love you more than I ever thought I could love any one person on this planet."

Dean stared, stunned for a moment at my declaration. We maintained our unwavering eye contact until Dean pulled me down into a kiss and rolled me onto my back. He then looked down at me and smiled amorously before he said, "I love you too Adelaide Jones. Oh God how I love you."

He leaned down to kiss me again but stopped when he saw that my face had contorted into a cringe.

"What is it Lay? Shit, did I break something? Are you hurting?"

"No," I said, scrunching my nose. "You called me 'Adelaide'. I can only think of one time that you called me that and it really didn't end well."

Dean rolled his eyes and said, "Fine… I love you Lay Jones. Is that better?"

"I guess… but 'Lay Jones'? That sounds weird too…"

Realizing that I was trying to tease him, Dean finally planted a kiss on my lips. He then laid on his back and drew me close to him again. When he felt me shiver ever so slightly, he pulled the covers up over my body to my shoulder.

"So Miss Jones, now that that's out there, where do we go from here?"

"We'll keep going in the same direction we were going before we said it Dean. You and Sam are going to stop the Apocalypse and I'll head out as soon as I find a new hunt."

"Okay? I'm confused. So there'll be no changes then? I'm not sure that I'm okay with that."

"Well no… there will be changes, geez Mr. Impatient. Now we'll be 'together'. When we both need down time, we can come here… and when I hear that you're in the town where I'm hunting, I won't bolt out of there as fast as I can, I'll come find you."

"Okay, that's sounding better."

"Dean, come on. We just have to be realistic. We're both hunters at our core and we're never going to have an All-American family in a sweet little house with a white picket fence and driving a minivan to baseball games."

"So… we're 'together', but we'll hardly ever be spending time together?"

"It's called a long-distance relationship," I said, trying my best to make him understand my point of view without pushing him away completely. "We have each other's number now, so we can talk, as often as we want, when we're miles apart. It'll take some effort, but I think you're worth it."

I leaned back to look down at him and Dean just stared at the ceiling, deep in thought. He barely blinked as his gaze became more intense. I wasn't sure how to read the expression on his face and was beginning to worry.

"Dean?"

His eyes remained fixed on something in the distance while he finally said, "You should come with us. I think that's a better plan."

After he finished that statement, he turned his eyes towards me.

"Dean, no… I shouldn't."

"Why not? Give me one good reason why you shouldn't come with us."

"Besides the incredibly awkward 'Third Wheel Syndrome'? Dean… this is a fight that you and Sam have to finish together. Bobby has told me about the prophecy that says you have to be the one to end this and given Sam's connection to Lucifer… it's the two of you that do this. Plus, you can't deny that you guys are stronger together."

"So? We would be even stronger if you were with us."

"No, Dean, you wouldn't be… I didn't want to bring this up and please don't get mad, but how well has it worked out in the past when either of you had a girlfriend tag along?"

"No fair using logic like that Lay."

"I know… I'm sorry Dean." I said and leaned over, kissed him and then relaxed at his side. He wrapped his left arm around me tightly, pushing me closer into his side.

"But we'll still spend time together, right? See each other?" He asked.

"Not to mention talk. We can talk as often as we want until we can see each other. It's not just the right time to… for me to steal you away from Sam."

"Okay, I think I can live with that… for now."

We then lay there just holding each other in a comfortable silence for a while.

"So Boyfriend, we should probably get out of bed and put some clothes on. I know Mo will kill me, but I'd like to get some of the set up started for Toby's party. Maybe even get some lunch ready for when they get back…"

"No problem, Girlfriend. We'll just tell her I did everything and that you rested just like you were ordered." He said and ended with a kiss on the top of my head.

I held him tight, nuzzled my face into his neck and smiled saying, "And that's just one of the reasons why I love you so much."


	23. Or resurrecting what could have been

Dean helped me to put on a pale yellow summer dress with a floral pattern before heading downstairs to start working outside. I was able to slowly do my hair and make-up on my own. Thankfully, I managed to cover the last remnants of the bruise under my left eye easily then completed a perfect make-up look for the party. Keeping my hair loose and used a curling iron to create tight waves in my hair that I knew would relax during the day, but would still make me look like I was completely done up. After I released the last curl, I finally took a moment to admire my hard work in the mirror.

I could barely recognize the person that I was confront with in the mirror. It had been months, possibly even years, since I had gotten this dressed up for any sort of event. As my eyes drifted down to the scab just beside the spaghetti strap of my dress, I was harshly reminded of who I really was and that was someone I couldn't really be today during the party which in turn reminded me why I rarely took the time to make myself look like this woman that I saw in my reflection.

"Hmmm… should have something to cover you up," I said to the wound as I went to my dresser to find a cardigan to complete my ensemble. "Can't have anyone catching a glimpse of you… especially not today."

I put on my mother's necklace and carried the cardigan downstairs so that I could see about helping Dean with any preparations that we could get done before everyone got home. As I was approaching the back door, the phone ringing kept me from meeting up with Dean in the back yard.

"Hello?"

" _Hey Addy! Mom just wanted me to call to let you know that we'll be home soon and that we picked up lunch."_

"That's great, thanks Toby." I said as I looked outside. True to his word, Dean had done most of the work in finding the lounge chairs and put them around the pool deck. "And Dean has gotten almost everything set up outside."

" _Awesome! Tell him thanks for me. We'll see you guys soon!"_

"Okay Buddy, we'll see you in a bit."

After seeing all the work Dean had done, I turned back into the kitchen and grabbed Dean a beer from the fridge to take out to him. When I joined Dean outside, he was checking the Bar-B-Que and was lining up the extra propane tanks beside it to make sure that the grill would never be without fuel during the festivities. 

"Well guess we won't have to lie to Maureen after all, since you really did do all the work on your own. Did I really take that long getting ready? Am I really turning into that much of a girl?"

Dean stood up and wiped his hand on a rag after he finished his last task. Once he turned around, he stared at me with his mouth slightly agape and looked like he was completely lost for words.

"What? Did I ruin my dress already? Crap! I swear I tired to be so careful!" I continued almost frantically as I started to inspect my dress.

Dean chuckled and said, "No Lay, you didn't ruin your dress. You just look so unbelievably gorgeous. I guess I forgot how amazingly you look when you put in a little effort and get dressed up. And then to have you with a beer in each hand… well you're just a perfect vision… practically a wet dream personified."

"Thanks Dean… I think. Plus I'm sure I deserve the stunned look after my reaction to you in blazer."

I stepped forward to hand him a beer and he touched my collarbone asking, "Did you figure out how you are going to explain that to everyone?"

We sat down on a couple of loungers beside the pool as we each took a drink from our bottles before I answered, "I have a sweater inside that will cover my neck and arm completely, so no explanations will be needed. It's light enough that I won't over heat so hopefully we can just avoid having to tell anyone about the scars at least for today. Well… unless, you know someone challenges me to a bench pressing contest or something. "

Dean and I shared a chuckle then continued drinking our beer while surveying the landscape around us. Dean looked down at my feet and suddenly grabbed my left leg to inspect the familiar pentagram with sunburst inked on my ankle. I had to plant my free hand on the cushion of the lounge chair to keep myself from falling over as he jerked my leg forward to get an even better look at my ink.

"When did you get that? And how the hell have I not seen it before?"

"Mom took me out to get it for my eighteenth birthday. She'd been possessed once and wanted to make sure that I never had to go through that because it was so awful and it nearly killed her… As for you not seeing it before now? Hmmm… I'm guessing that when I've had my pants off you've had other things preoccupying your mind?"

He placed his bottle on the ground and ran his hand up my calf as he playfully asked, "Yeah well can you blame a guy for that?"

He knelt down in front of me as his hands continued to slowly slide up my thighs. He kissed my chest and made his way to my neck ever so slowly with light kisses and soft nips on my flesh.

"Dean," I whispered while seriously struggling to keep my hands off of him. "We can't right now. The party… everyone will be here soon."

He pecked my lips gently then let out a soft groan of frustration. "Okay… okay… you're right. But Lay you gotta know that you look completely irresistible."

"Thank you Dean, the adoration is greatly appreciated, but we have to behave. Today is about Toby, not us, okay?"

He stood up and brushed off his knees and finished his beer in one last long swallow. "Okay…  like I said, I know you're right. So what else needs to be done for today's festivities?"

I looked around and saw that not only had he set up some card tables from the garage and placed them strategically around the deck, he had also made sure all of the lounge chairs had found places on the deck as well.

"And you moved the picnic tables over?" I asked in awe. "I think you got it all pretty much done. I'll grab some table cloths and… Oh Toby's iPod. We've got to have music at the party. And then I think we're… well you're pretty much done."

"Okay, well I'll leave you to take care of all of that and I'll head in to get cleaned up."

After Dean was back in the house, I got to work on the finishing touches outside by putting table cloths on all the tables. After hooking up Toby's iPod to the stereo by the Bar-B-Que, I filled up the coolers with ice and some of the beverages from inside. I was heading back to the kitchen to start cutting up the toppings for the burgers when I heard the rumble of the Impala coming down the driveway. Toby jumped out of the back seat with two paper bags in his hands and quickly walked towards me.

"Addy?"

"Yeah Toby?"

"Wow, it is you. I kind of didn't recognize you, sorry," he said sheepishly.

I pulled him into a side hug and ruffled his hair saying, "Does that mean I should dress like this more often?"

Toby chuckled then said, "Only if you want to because you should dress how you want and not how people say you should… or so I've been told." Then he caught his breath and looked up at me and smirked adding, "Either way, you look really pretty."

"Thank you Toby."

"Oh, wait! Here, take these, please. I forgot something in the car!"

He ran back to the Impala as Maureen and Sam made their way towards me. Maureen was inspecting the changes that had been made in the yard and asked, "Adelaide, you didn't…?"

Before she could finish her sentence I quickly defended myself saying, "No, I didn't! I just put out the table cloths. Dean did ALL of the heavy lifting. I swear! He's inside right now getting cleaned up right now because he honestly did do all of the hard work."

She held my shoulders and gave me a soft hug to try to keep from pressing too hard against any of my latest wounds.

"Well… that's good to hear. Everything looks wonderful. Thank you so much darling."

"Absolutely my pleasure. But really, Dean did pretty much all of the work, so you should be thanking him."

"Once I see him, I'll thank him too sweetheart, but I know that this… " She moved her hand as if to show me my back yard adding, "I know this was  all your idea and I can't thank you enough for helping to put this all together."

I just smiled and nodded at those words because I was so worried that my voice would betray me as I tried once again to deflect her praise from me to someone else. As we made our way up the stairs, Sam joined us while Bobby had already rolled into the kitchen.

"Just to echo everyone else, you look great Addy," Sam said quietly as I passed him while he held the door open for Maureen and me.

I blushed and meekly replied, "Thanks Sam."

Maureen had taken the food bags from my hand once we entered the house and immediately went to work to lay out a buffet of home-cooked fries, salad, fried chicken and coleslaw. Bobby kept out her way by putting some of the perishables away in the fridge as Sam and I stepped in to join them. After the feast was neatly placed on the island for all of us to enjoy, Maureen turned to get the plates out of the cupboard and instructed Sam and I to take a seat, which we followed without any objections (of course). Bobby had pulled out four beers and two bottles of Coke and placed them on the table.

After taking a long drink from one of the bottles of beer, I finally noticed that one of the members of our clan was unaccounted for at this moment.

"Where's Bill hiding?"

"Oh… he hasn't checked on the crops since… since Toby was taken," Maureen replied. "So, he thought that he should get around to checking on everything while he had the chance. He just planted a few things a couple of weeks ago and with the warm weather we've been having, he's been worried about the soil and their growth… But he promised to make it for the party."

"Oh… no worries Maureen. I can understand him worrying about that… and I'm sure he'll make it back in plenty of time. I'll have to remind him that if he needs any help that I'm happy to give it."

Just then the back door flew open and Toby entered the kitchen while trying to hide something hidden behind his back. He walked determinedly up to me and then looked steadfastly down at his feet as he said, "Addy… I really wanted to thank you for finding me… and for having the party today… and… and for… for… well for everything! You're the best!"

He then produced a bouquet that consisted of nine yellow roses, three red roses, Baby's-Breath and some other greenery, which completely took my breath away.

"Oh, Toby, they're beautiful! Thank you so much Buddy." I said as I took the bouquet, giving him a soft hug and kissed his cheek.

"Bea said that the yellow ones were for friendship and would be perfect since you're my best friend on the planet. And then she said that the red ones were for love because… well you're part of my family and I love you as much as I love my mom and dad and I wanted you to know how much you mean to me."

I started to tear up from Toby's thoughtfulness as I said, "They really are beautiful Tobs. I don't know what to say… but of course, I love you too."

Bobby silently handed me a napkin to blot the tears from my eyes.

"I didn't mean to make you cry Addy," Toby said with a tone of misunderstanding.

"Hey Toby! Why on Earth would you make Lay cry like that?" Dean said, joking from his place at the kitchen door.

"I didn't mean to Dean," Toby replied with a whine that was threatening to turn into a sob.

"Dean!" I exclaimed chastising the older male. "Toby was sweet enough to buy me a thank you present and his thoughtfulness made me tear up. Don't make him feel bad for that!"

I scooped Toby onto a tight hug that forced him to awkwardly sit in my lap as Maureen took the bouquet to put them into a vase.

"Toby, I love the flowers. Don't listen to him at all. What you did was such a sweet gesture. It's one of the kindest things anyone has ever done for me. Thank you, Buddy, thank you so much."

Once he realised that his joke hadn't gone over as well as he had planned, Dean squatted down in front of Toby and apologised saying, "I'm sorry, Little Man. What I said… it honestly was a joke. That was a really nice thing to do for Lay." Dean winked at me and smiled. "I'm sure Lay here would say that I could learn a few things from you about the proper way to treat a lady."

Toby beamed at Dean's compliment. "Oh! Okay! If it was just a joke then it's all good." He hopped off my lap and excitedly said, "I'll fix you a plate of lunch Addy. You still need to take it easy!"

Sam and Bobby had already gotten their share of food while Dean piled on a little bit of each dish onto a plate for himself and Toby made up a plate for me and himself. As the three older males found their places around the table, Toby place the plate he had put together in front of me and pulled up a chair between Bobby and myself, while Maureen made herself comfortable beside the younger of the two Winchesters.

After Dean sat down to my right, I squeezed his knee and quietly told him, "You know, you do pretty okay on your own."

We then finished our lunch while having light hearted conversation about the local news and other current events that didn't include the impending Apocalypse. It was kind of strange for me to have such a long conversation with Bobby Singer and the Winchester brothers that didn't include the topics of monsters or murder, but to my surprise, it wasn't in any way awkward. When we finished eating, Toby leapt out of his chair and collected all of our plates and cutlery and to place them in the dishwasher before any of us could move.

Once he was done with those chores as well as putting away the left overs, Toby looked over at his mother and asked apprehensively, "Since lunch is all cleaned up, can I go get ready for the party now? Please mom?"

"Yes you may Tobias. But I think we left our bags in the car before we came into the house," Maureen said.

Toby then turned his attention to the man sitting in the chair beside his mother and politely asked, "Sam… May I please have the keys to the Impala so that I can get our bags?"

Sam pulled the keys for the vehicle out of his pocket and passed them to Toby saying, "Of course… here you go Toby."

"Thanks Sam!" The young pre-teen exclaimed while grabbing the keys and bolting out the back door.

"Wow! Is he ever excited," I commented with a large grin on my face.

"All that he has been able to talk about is getting into that pool of yours since you agreed to us having the party here, Adelaide. He's been trying his best to keep his excitement contained all day," Maureen said happily.

I looked at the three men at the table and said, "Speaking of… all of Toby's team and classmates will be coming here today… why don't you guys take a little time and retire to the den for a bit and rest up? Mo and I will take care of all the final prep work, okay?"

Bobby patted my knee and said, "Sounds like a plan Koala Bear. Come on guys, why don't we get out of these ladies' hair so they can finish everything up for today?"

Dean pecked my lips and said, "We're just in the other room. You call us if we can help with anything, okay?"

"We will. Thanks. But go… rest up." I said before thinking to myself _you all are really going to need it._

Maureen believed that the three hunters were relaxing in the other room but I had caught a glimpse of Sam slipping his laptop into the den with them. I knew that the three of them were in fact checking on anything strange that might signify where Lucifer (or any of his minions) were at this time. Given the circumstances, I really didn't blame them for checking, but I still hated the thought of Dean having to leave anytime soon. In my heart, I knew that Dean's departure was inevitable, but thinking about us being apart was difficult no matter what I said out loud.

However, I pushed those thoughts out of my mind. Today was a day to celebrate that we had brought Toby home safe and sound, which allowed us to take this brief moment to rejoice that achievement together.

As Maureen and I started the final prep work, Toby had run through the kitchen with their bags on his way upstairs. Maureen continued our work by pulling out some bowls and I poured chips into some of them, leaving the other bowls for some of the other necessities. As I was cutting the hamburger buns, Toby came running back into the kitchen wearing just his swim trunks and flip flops with a beach towel resting over his shoulder.

"Mom… is it okay if I go out now? Everyone should be here soon. Pleeeease? Pretty, pretty please?"

"Yes, you may Tobias. Adelaide and I will watch you from here."

Toby continued on his way outside without hesitation, but turned when he got to the door and said, "Mom, I think the Kwimpers are here."

He then flew out the door to meet his friend at the bottom the stairs without waiting for an answer from his mother.

Before Toby had entered the room, Maureen had cut up a couple of onions and tomatoes and was starting to slice the pickles when Toby made his announcement.

"Oh Goodness… but we haven't finished yet… they weren't supposed to… we still have so much to do," she said after Toby had disappeared down the stairs.

I passed her the bags with the plastic plates and cups saying "Go ahead Maureen. I can finish the rest of this up. Once I'm done, I'll grab the guys and we'll meet you out there in a bit."

"Are you sure darling?"

"Yes, Mo. I am," I said with a reassuring smile. "Go ahead and greet our guests."

"Okay… Thank you Adelaide."

She took the bags, all be it somewhat reluctantly, and then joined Toby outside by the pool deck with the growing group of party goers. Toby still hadn't made it to the pool yet because he was at his mother's side greeting everyone as they arrived like the proper host Maureen had taught him to be at such an event. Soon after a few families were by the pool deck, Toby came bounding into the kitchen as I finished the last of the work on the veggie platter and was putting it into the fridge.

"Are you guys going to be coming out soon?" He asked excitedly while picking up two bowls of chips.

"Definitely soon Buddy, promise. I just had to finish up a couple of things. Why don't you head back out and I'll grab the guys, okay?"

"Awesome! See you guys out there!" He said as he slipped out the door again with a bowl of chips in both hands.

After I double checked that all the preparation work was done to my satisfaction, I picked up my white cropped cardigan and walked into the den, buttoning it up as I walked. The three hunters were completely engrossed in the information that they had looked up and were reading on Sam's laptop. Bobby had pulled out some ancient looking volumes from my parent's library, while Dean had taken some notes on a pad of paper he found in the desk drawer. I stood in the doorway for a moment, debating if forcing them into coming out to the party was the right idea or not. Kidder was my hometown and I had grown more than used to play the role of fun loving family member with the Connors, but I wasn't certain that they would be able to slip out of "Hunter-Mode" as easily as I could when I really needed to hide who I was to be with my family.

Dean looked up and smiled while he said, "Hey! Sorry… Sammy may have found something worth us looking into… sorry I think we got distracted."

"It's no problem. I just wanted to let you know that I was headed out… " I said with a somewhat uneasy smile.

Bobby set the book he had been looking at down, still open, on the coffee table and asked, "So… have we been uninvited to the party now?"

At this point I was feeling kind of embarrassed by second guessing the three of them and answered, "Absolutely not… but I just didn't want to interrupt you guys if you were working on something important. You know since it might be about the Apocalypse and all."

Sam chuckled before he said, "We more than welcome the interruption Addy."

Dean stood up, stretched and walked over to hug me. After he stepped back from our embrace he straightened my cardigan to ensure that it was fully covering the vampire bite mark that found its home on my collarbone once again.

"But… Are you ready to go out there as… umm… as a couple?" I asked quietly.

He placed a soft kiss on my lips. "I'm ready if you are."


	24. 'Cause you know just as well as I That everything must die

Sam and Bobby had graciously offered to play the role of chef for the afternoon and seemed to be more than happy to claim a nearly permanent spot  at the grill for the rest of the afternoon. Sam carried out the patties while following Bobby who had promised to fire up the Bar-B-Que. I had given each of them explicit instructions that there was one grill reserved solely for cooking the meat patties and the another for vegetarian burgers and that they could not under any circumstance mix up the two. At first, they both chuckled, but when they noticed how nervous I was about everything being just right, they both became more serious and assured me that they completely understood and that everything would be perfect... not 'fine', but 'perfect'.

Once I was convinced that I could in fact trust the two of them to do things properly and to my standards, I then allowed them to leave the house in order to get the patties started for dinner. After Sam and Bobby left, I turned to the fridge to take out the two platters of vegetable toppings that Maureen and I had sliced up for the burgers. Once they were on the island, I turned back to the fridge to take out the condiments to get them ready to transport outside.

"Lay, I swear that you're worrying too much. Everything is going to be great today," Dean said while watching me on the other side of the island.

"I know that I'm being unbelievably anal right now about the party, but it's… it's for Toby. It just HAS to be perfect Dean. Not okay, PERFECT. I'm seriously hoping that maybe if he has fun today that he'll forget… you know… about…"

"Forget about what he saw?"

I placed the last of the necessities on the counter top and looked up at Dean and said, "Yeah… It's just that his dreams have always been so vivid. And… well once he has a particular nightmare, it kind of sticks with him for a while. So, after last night, I got to thinking that maybe his experience over the last couple of days might be sticking with him and if he had a lot of fun today…"

Dean wrapped me into a hug with my right side pressed firmly against his chest. He kissed my right temple before trying to console me by saying, "He'll have fun… I promise you that much Lay. But Toby will want you to relax too. You know,for you to have some fun out there? I'm pretty sure that he won't be able to have fun until he sees that you are too."

I took a deep breath and gave him a smile with a soft nod of my head.

"I will… I will… But first I need to know that everything for today has been taken care of first," I said.

I twisted while still being held in Dean's arms in order to look at him in the eye as I continued, "I told you my craziness is just a small part of my charm that makes you love me so much." I placed a soft kiss on his lips. "Help me carry all of this out, would you please?"

Dean quickly pecked my lips. "Of course I'll help you. Does that mean that you're good to go and ready to have a good time?"

I threw him a bemused smirk and nodded before I said, "Yes, it does. Now behave and carry these and than we can become real 'party-goers'."

I handed him the large bowl of cut buns and a platter of sliced onions and tomatoes. I then placed all of the condiments into another large bowl and picked up the tray with the lettuce and sliced pickles and followed Dean outside to the party.

Once we had carried the rest of the supplies out and placed them on the picnic table with the buffet of pot luck food that the attendees had brought with them. Dean swiftly joined Sam, Bobby and some of the other dads that had congregated around the grill. I grabbed a long neck bottle of beer from one of the coolers and couldn't help but chuckle to myself at seeing such a normal suburban scene in my own backyard.

The moms had gotten some of the kids out and were towel-drying them off in order to get them to make up their buns and to get them to have something to eat. Toby would not be dissuaded and remained in the water playing with his few friends that remained in the pool with him. I stood to one side, watching the remaining boys in the pool who were splashing around in it and was so transfixed that I hadn't realized that someone had stepped up behind me.

"Congratulations on getting Toby home safe and sound Ads. I knew you would be able to do it. He looks so happy."

I jumped a little at the sound of the voice that took me out of my tranquil thoughts at that moment. I turned to see who the 'intruder' was and said, "Thanks Don… But I didn't do any of it on my own. I'm glad that you and Veronica could make it out today. Toby will be so excited that the Sheriff showed up for his party. Can I get you anything?"

"No… I'm good for now, but thanks for the offer. So. Toby there. He's grown so much and so quickly… He's really starting to look a lot like… like his mom."

I blushed slightly. "Shh… Don't Don… Please?"

Once he nodded as a retraction to his statement I said more light-heartedly, "But, yes… He has grown up too quickly. I can't believe he'll be starting high school in the fall. God when did we get that old?"

As I was finishing my sentence I felt an arm wrap around my waist carefully while another hand passed me a fresh beer.

"I thought you might need a freshening up, Lay," Dean said possessively while tightening his hold of my waist ever so slightly.

"Thanks Dean." I kissed his cheek as he took my empty beer bottle and tossed it into a nearby bin.

"Dean, have you met our Sheriff?" I asked immediately knowing full well what his response would be but I wanted to try to ease the tension I could feel was mounting between Dean and Don.

"No… no, I haven't. Hi, I'm Dean Winchester," Dean said while extending his right hand in the direction of the dumbfounded man.

"Dean! Not 'The Dean'?" A woman's voice exclaimed from behind the Sheriff.

Dean chuckled loudly and I groaned mildly while countering, "Oh goodness, please Veronica, don't help to inflate his ego anymore than it already is!"

Once the petite pregnant blond emerged from behind her husband, I continued and made proper introductions in an all too friendly voice, "Dean, I'd like you to meet Don and Veronica Lamb, the Sheriff and his wife. Oh! And their little one. Don… Veronica… this is Dean… Winchester… my… my  boyfriend."

The Lambs both stared at me flabbergasted and paused for a moment. I had already resigned myself to the belief that this would be the hardest introductions of the day, but felt relieved to finally have made them. Veronica recovered first and smiled warmly. She stepped into Don's slide and silently forced him to wrap an arm around her.

Veronica then extended her right hand while enthusiastically saying, "It's so great to finally meet you Dean! I hope that you'll enjoy the rest of your stay here in Kidder… especially now that all of that ugliness is behind you guys." She was looking towards Toby when she finished her welcome.

Dean shook her hand and gave her one of his signature confident smiles while he said, "Thanks, it's nice to be met. I think that Lay here has been taking good care of me."

I blushed at his compliment while catching Don glaring somewhat at my close proximity to Dean, unbeknownst to Veronica as she said, "Oh, of course she would! Addy has always been great that way. Ummm… Don? My ankles are really starting to kill me. Do you think that we could find somewhere to sit and rest a while?"

Don finally relented and broke his steadfast glare at Dean and looked down at his wife saying, "Sure, yeah, of course Veronica… Why don't we find you a seat and then I'll go and find us something to eat… You're still having your aversion to poultry, right?"

Veronica laughed lightly. "See how he takes such good care of me. Just a veggie burger for me today Don… We'll talk later, right Addy?"

"We definitely will Veronica. But Don is right; you should get something to eat and rest up a bit. I'll come find you later."

Don and Veronica then offered some kind words about catching up with us later and the possibility of getting together while Dean was in town before leaving to enjoy their dinner. Once Dean and I were once again alone, he looked down at me and rolled his eyes. I responded immediately saying, "I know… I know, but I warned you that Don wasn't going to be the President of your Fan Club anytime soon. Can we just move on? Please, Dean? For me?"

Dean smiled at me warmly and said, "No, it's not that… I mean, how could she carry his child when he is clearly still in love with you?"

"Dean!" I I cried out in a hushed yell. "He's not! Please don't think that… Or… Uhh… Even if… It's not like I'm around enough for him to try to act on any of it. Plus… I'm with you now, so it's not even worth a second thought, okay? I love you… and just you. Please, let's just move on?"

"I know it's not you Lay… and I love you too. But still… that poor girl… "

I kissed him and smiled brightly

"Those burgers sure do smell good," I said while still trying desperately to get him off the topic of the Sheriff and his wife.

"I'll see if I can snag us a couple of patties… I think I might just have an in with the chefs over there. Why don't you go make up a couple of buns for us?" He questioned then kissed my cheek tenderly squeezing me in a side hug.

"I'd be happy to Boyfriend," I smirked as I made my way to the buffet table.

Dean then made his way to the Bar-B-Que area where he procured himself a cheeseburger and a chicken burger for me. Once we had put them on the buns that I had prepared, the two of us found a spot at a picnic table that was on the periphery of the yard and away from everyone else so that we could enjoy them in relative peace.

As we sat eating, Sam joined us with his dinner on a plate and said, "So, Bobby got a call. It looks like he'll probably be heading out soon."

I quickly looked up from my meal at him and worriedly asked, "Does that mean that you guys will be leaving tonight too?"

Sam smiled warmly and shook his head as he said, "No. Bobby said that he would be able to take care of whatever it is on his own. But, then again… Considering everything that we found earlier today, it would probably be best if we head out soon too."

"But we won't be leaving tonight, Lay. Don't worry, okay?" Dean said in an attempt to keep me from become too anxious about their impeding departure and squeezed my knee to reaffirm his statement.

I took a deep breath and felt some of my tension dissipate from the muscles in my upper back. Before I was able to question either brother further in regards to the information that they had found, Toby appeared behind Sam with a plate loaded to the brim with food.

"Hey! Would you guys mind if I sit with you?" He asked in a very polite tone.

"Of course you can Little Man. I think Sam there might be able to shift over and make some room for you on his side of the picnic table," Dean responded with a grin.

"Dean! Sam's not that big! Oh and uhh … thanks guys!" Toby then climbed onto the bench opposite Dean and me saying, "Man, this party is so awesome! Can you guys believe all the people that are here to celebrate? The Sheriff even came! How cool is that? Are you guys having fun?"

I smiled brightly at his excitement and said, "We sure are Buddy. I told Don you'd be excited that he came… Good thing you finally got out the pool, I can't believe you haven't turned into a prune yet."

"Addy! I haven't been in the pool that long! Are you going to come into the water for a bit? Ooh! We could play 'Marco Polo'… Or any other game that you want!"

"Oh… Toby… Buddy… You know how much I love the water, but I don't think it would be the best idea for me to go in given the look of my side and all."

"Right… right! I totally forgot. I guess you don't want people to see how black and blue you are… I'm sorry Addy." He looked down at his plate as sadness overtook his previously jovial face.

"Hey, Tobs, it's okay Buddy. And… it's still not your fault. Come on, please don't worry about me, I'll heal up soon. Remember, this is your party, please? Come on, where's your smile? For me?"

He looked up and gave me tentative smile and said, "Okay, but I'm still sorry. I'll have fun if you promise that you'll have fun too."

Dean smirked and said, "That's what I told her too… I think if we work together we can force her to have fun, don't you?" He finished with a wink.

Toby beamed once again, "It's a deal Dean."

We then sat in silence while we ate for a while. We all seemed to be more than relieved that someone had been able to easy diminish the awkwardness that had been created during the conversation and were just reveling in the realative peace of the moment.

"Hey Toby… This has been an awesome party, but my mom says that we have to head home now. Welcome home again. Thanks for inviting me, I had so much fun," a young female voice said from behind me.

"Thanks for coming Heather. Umm… guess I'll see you Monday then," Toby said as his cheeks started to rouge.

"Yep! See you Monday!"

After his classmate had left, Sam nudged Toby's side and asked, "So who was that Toby?"

Toby looked up from his nearly empty plate and sheepishly replied, "Oh… that's just Heather… she's just a girl form school."

Dean immediately jumped on the opportunity to tease Toby by saying, "She's 'JUST' a girl from school Little Man?"

Toby's cheek and neck were now completely red as he blushed from embarrassment. "Umm… Uhh… " He stammered.

"Guys, be nice," I lightly schooled the brothers. "If Toby doesn't want to tell us about his girlfriend, then we can't force him to talk." I teased.

"Addy! Not you too!" Toby exclaimed, trying not to whine too loudly. "She's not my girlfriend… But… but…"

He looked down at his lap and sniffled as if tears were about to flow. I then realized that the three of us had probably gone too far, so I got up and walked around the table to give Toby a hug.

"We're sorry Buddy. We didn't mean to hurt your feelings, it was all meant in good fun." I held his face in my hands as I apologized after squeezing him tightly.

"It's okay Addy," he smiled softly. "I really do like her, but I don't know if she likes me at all… you know?"

I kissed his cheek and quietly assured him saying, "I think she likes you Buddy."

His eyes immediately brightened. "Really? You do?"

The three of us nodded as he looked to each of us for confirmation. "Cool!"

His smile grew wider and he went back to finishing his dinner.

"Adelaide? Can I speak to you for a minute?" Maureen called from a few feet away from the table where we were eating.

"Sure Mo, I'll be right there."

I instinctively smoothed my dress as I walked over to her. I noticed that she was standing far enough away from the table that we were completely out of the boys' earshot and as I approached her I started to feel nervous. I had no idea what she might need to speak to me about without anyone else hearing and thought that she might be reprimanding me for teasing Toby just a moment ago.

I swallowed hard before I asked, "What's up Mo?"

"Oh, it's nothing serious Adelaide. I'm sorry I didn't mean to worry you. I'm just a bit concerned that Bill hasn't it made it here yet, but I'm sure that he just lost track of time while out in the fields. I had hoped that he would have been able to at least make it for the end of the party, but I don't think that's going to happen, so I'm going to take him a plate of food," she said with a slight tone of disappointment.

"Oh… okay. Did you want me to give you a ride home?"

"Oh, no, that's okay sweetheart. The Nolan's go right by our house on their way home, so they offered to drop me off," she explained as we started to walk towards the boys who were still seated at the picnic table. "I just wanted to tell you before I told Tobias, just in case he starts to worry. Tobias?"

Toby looked over from his conversation with the Winchesters. "Yes mom?"

"I'm going to take a plate of food to your father. Will you be okay if I leave you here to stay with Adelaide until I get back?"

"Definitely! Oh… It's okay with you though, right Addy?"

"Of course it's okay Tobs."

Toby ran over to give his mother a hug and she lovingly cautioned, "You make sure that you mind Adelaide while I'm gone, okay son?"

"Yes ma'am," he said as she kissed his forehead. He then turned his attention to me and asked, "Addy, if I clean up our plates, can I head back into the pool?"

"Sure you can. But take it easy Tobs; I don't want you to get sick after eating so much."

"Ok Addy, I will. See you later mom! Tell dad I miss him!"

Toby ran over to the table and cleared all four of our plates and disposed of them in the garbage. He appeared to say his goodbyes to Bobby who was making his way towards us before rushing back to the pool and jumping in doing a cannonball.

"How is he still going? I MUST be getting old because I'm getting tired just watching him," Bobby said once he reached us.

"Oh Bobby, don't say that. If you're old then that means I'm getting old too," Maureen said to a happy smile.

"Well I would never accuse you of that Maureen," Bobby said back as we all shared a chuckle.

"Thank you again Bobby for coming out so quickly to help us find our Tobias. It was so wonderful to finally meet you after all these years of hearing stories about you. Adelaide certainly did you justice. It was really great finally meeting you too Sam. If I don't see you before you leave, please do take care. And thank you both for all of your extra help today with the party. Everything turned out so much better than I could have ever hoped."

"My pleasure Maureen. Please give my best to Bill," Sam said as he hugged her.

She then turned her attention to Dean. "And you, young man… don't you be a stranger. It's been too long since your last visit. Come home and visit us all more often, you hear?"

"Yes ma'am, I'll definitely make sure to find my way here on a more frequent basis. Give my best to Bill as well," Dean replied somewhat sheepishly.

Before meeting with the Nolan's, Maureen finished by saying, "Okay… well, all of you stay safe because I expect to see all of you on a more frequent basis from now on, especially for holidays when family is supposed to be together." She let those words sink in for the three men before she smiled serenely and added, "And thank you again for everything. I don't know how I will ever repay you. Addy, I'll be back later to pick up Tobias."

"No rush Maureen. Please tell Bill not to work too hard," I said.

Maureen chuckled then made her way over to the few remaining families that were preparing to leave with their sleepy-eyed children in tow.

"Hey, Bobby? Do you need a hand?" Sam asked.

"Thanks son, but I've got the van packed and ready to go," Bobby said while waving off each of the Winchesters.

I leaned over and hugged him saying, "Thanks again for your help Bobby. Call when you get home, okay?"

He cupped my cheek with his right hand. "I'm always happy to help Koala Bear. Now you take care and be sure to visit. Boys, we'll talk soon, okay?"

After one last hug, Bobby headed straight for his van and left following a virtual caravan of pickup trucks and minivans that were heading down my driveway. Toby was standing at the back stairs waving to everyone as they left.

"Well boys, looks like the party's over and cleaning can begin," I said to Sam and Dean.

Dean looked down at this watch and replied with a disappointed tone, "But it's barely 8pm."

I chuckled and said, "That's what happens in farm country Dean. All of the dads are up at the crack of dawn, so they'll all be headed to bed soon. You know, early to bed, early to rise?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah… and the early bird catches the worm," he said playfully mocking me.

I heaved a small sigh and said, "I guess I should be saying the goodbyes with Toby since I am sort of the hostess and all."

Dean's fingers interlaced with min, "Well let's get over there then."

As we went to join Toby in thanking everyone for attending the festivities, Sam got to work on clean up the minimal mess that was left behind.

After the last guest had made their exit, Toby looked up at Dean and I said, "I'm going to go change now if that's okay and then I'll help clean up."

"Sure Buddy, go on in," I said with a large grin.

He started up the stairs then stopped, turned around and ran over to wrap his arms around my waist. He then look me in the eye and said "Thanks again for everything Addy! I had so much fun today. And thanks for helping Addy Dean! You guys are the best!"

Before either Dean or I could answer, Toby had turned around and ran up the stairs into the house. Sam was still cleaning, mostly just closing up garbage bags and lugging them to the edge of the house.

"Guess that means everything went according to plan," I said to Dean.

He leaned down and kissed me. "I told you everything would be perfect."

Sam approached us with his arms filled with bowls. "I think I got the last of it guys."

I smiled at both of them and said, "Thanks Sam. We can head in and retire for the night then."


	25. Hello is goodbye It's time to say goodbye

I was putting the last of the dishes into the dishwasher while Sam and Dean were placing the perishables into the refrigerator, when Toby came running through the kitchen on his way outside.

"TOBY!" I called after him with a bemused tone.

He stopped at the door with his hand on the door knob then turned to look at me and asked breathlessly, "Yes Addy?"

I chuckled before replying, "Sam has already finished all the cleaning that needed to be done outside Buddy."

"Really? Thanks Sam! Is there anything else that I can help with?"

"I think we've got pretty much everything done. Why don't you go and choose a movie for all of us to watch, Little Man?" Dean replied.

"Seriously! My choice? Like totally my choice?" Toby questioned excitedly as he walked towards the island.

After all three of us nodded he asked, "Can we watch 'Transformers' again?"

I responded, "Sure Tobs. Why don't you boys get everything ready while I got and get changed?"

Toby rushed around the island to give me a tight hug forgetting about my injuries causing me to grunt softly to keep from crying out.

"Really? Thanks! I'll make popcorn!"

He looked over at Dean and asked, "Are you gonna help Addy get changed again Dean?"

My cheeks burned hot from embarrassment as Dean replied, "Only if Lay needs me to Toby."

I could feel my cheeks and neck get even hotter as everyone's eyes turned to me as I replied with a shrug, "Guess it wouldn't hurt if you did."

Dean and I then went to our room while Sam and Toby got to work at the movie night preparations. He quickly helped me change into a pair of black yoga pants and an oversized red hoody. When we returned to the den, Toby smiled and swallowed a mouthful of popcorn.

"Addy the Cardinals beat the Astros! But ummm… the Yankees didn't do so well."

I flopped down beside him on the couch and said, "That's great for the Cards Buddy! It looks like they are well on their way to the Series this year. But don't worry about my Yankees… they've gotta let the other teams win every once in a while."

As I put my arm around him and gave him a small side hug I asked, "So… the popcorn is made… Did you get the movie ready too?"

"Yeah he did Addy… All we have to do is press play," Sam answered from a nearby recliner.

"Thanks Sam."

Toby then placed a large bowl filled to the brim with popcorn on my lap. Presumably it was for me to share with Dean, who was now making himself comfortable to my left.

As the movie played out, Toby ended up curled into a ball on the couch with his head in my lap. The excitement of today's events seemed to hit him hard and he was soon snoozing with my leg acting as a pillow for him. After the midway point of the show, I felt Toby's heavy rhythmic breathing and realized that he had fallen into a deep sleep. I squeezed Dean's knee and whispered, "I think he's fallen asleep."

Dean looked down at Toby's face on my lap as he paused the movie, nodded in confirmation and said, "I guess we should get him into bed then."

Sam got up from the recliner before Dean or I could get up off the couch and offered through a yawn, "I'll take him up… you guys stay and finish the movie."

Then the larger brother scooped Toby off my lap and carried him to his temporary room. Dean looked down at me as I was cuddled onto his chest and said, "These alien robots aren't really holding my attention... how 'bout you Lay?"

I let out a loud yawn and stretched into an upright seated position, "Not really Dean. I think I'm ready to turn in too... I'm just surprised that Mo hasn't made it back to pick up Toby yet."

"Why don't you give her a call and I'll clean the bowls up."

"Good idea. Thanks Dean."

He got to work cleaning up the bowls and some stray kernels of popcorn that had fallen on the couch and carpet while I grabbed the phone to call Maureen. There was no answer at their house, so I tried her cell phone, which was met with success.

 _"Oh Adelaide! Darling, I'm so sorry I forgot to call!"_ Maureen offered this as her greeting instead of the usual 'Hello' when she answered her phone.

"Umm… that's okay Maureen; I was just getting kind of worried because it's gotten so late. Is everything alright with you two?"

 _"It is now darling, but I had to rush Bill to the ER and completely lost track of time with the paperwork and…  well everything that I'm sure you're used to when you've had to go to the hospital. But before you worry, it's nothing serious. Bill just sliced his arm pretty bad while fixing the tractor and had to get a few stitches to close up the wound,"_ she calmly explained.

"Oh my goodness! He's okay though, right?"

_"Yes, he's fine. He feels incredibly stupid getting hurt like that, but pride aside, he's fine. We just have to wait for him to get a tetanus shot, so I don't know how much longer we have to wait here… I hate to ask, given everything that you have already done, but… would it be okay if Tobias stayed with you for the night?"_

"Of course he can spend the night! You should know that would be absolutely no problem at all! I'll bring him home in the morning for you… Is there anything else I can do to help you out?"

_"No darling, I think I have everything else under control now. Thank you so much Adelaide. I love you Darling. Have a wonderful night and I'll see you in the morning."_

"Love you too Mo. Take care and give my best to Bill."

I then replaced the phone on its cradle and met Dean in the kitchen while he was starting the dishwasher.

"Everything okay?" He questioned nonchalantly.

"Yeah… Mo just had to take Bill to the ER to get stitches. She's not sure how late they'll be stuck there so I told her that I'd just take Toby home tomorrow."

"The ER? Is Bill going to be okay?" He asked apprehensively.

"Oh…yeah, Bill's fine. He just had to get some stitches and they're waiting on a tetanus shot for him. He's fine… Man, what a day… Are you as ready for bed as I am?"

Dean took my hand and replied, "More than ready."

Once we were in our room, Dean easily helped me into my now favorite nightshirt and boxers. I was too tired to make any attempts to participate in a repeat of this morning's activities and drifted to sleep as soon as I was wrapped in Dean's arms.

_" **Dean… Dean…" I protested breathlessly.**_

_" **Sorry Addy… I'll slow down," Dean responded as he removed his hand from underneath my top, but he remained on top of me as we lay on the couch during a rather heated make out session.**_

_" **Thanks… I'm sorry…" I apologized as I ran my fingers through his hair.**_

_" **It's okay Addy… we can go slower. I don't want to rush you."**_

_" **You really are the best, you know… Thank you."**_

_**I pulled him back into a kiss as we continued to ignore the movie that was playing on the TV.** _

_**THUMP!** _

_**I quickly released myself from his embrace and quietly exclaimed, "Oh my God! They're home early!"** _

_**Dean instantly sat up on the couch and slipped his t-shirt back on. I jumped to my feet, smoothed my hair into a ponytail and refastened the few buttons that Dean had undone on my top. I then nearly sprinted out of the den into the living room in an attempt to run interference with my parents and John while Dean made himself look more decent.** _

_**I stopped abruptly at the sight of my dad's slumped body being carried into the house by my Mum and John. He appeared to be unconscious and there was a river of blood dripping down his face from his forehead.** _

_" **Dean! Get over here and give us a hand!" John shouted without looking up while struggling with the weight of my dad's body.**_

_" **Sure dad! Be right there!" Dean called back as he gently moved me out his way so that he could get through the doorway. He then rushed to my Mum's side and helped John carry my dad to the couch.**_

_" **Addy! Could you please go and grab the first aid kit for us?" My Mum called in my direction.**_

_**I turned and ran into the bathroom to get the first aid kit without responding to her. While I was kneeled down retrieving it, along with some other supplies, from under the sink, I felt a hand on my back as someone was reaching over me to grab the two towels that were on the rack.** _

_" **Sorry Addy… your mom asked me to grab these," Dean apologized as he helped me to my feet.**_

_" **No worries Dean… Is he… Is it really bad?" I asked as he wrapped his free arm around my shoulder.**_

_" **He's gonna be fine Addy. It looks much worse than it is… Don't worry about it, okay?"**_

_" **Okay… I'll try," I offered as I took a deep breath in an effort to maintain my composure.**_

_**When we returned to the living room, John and my Mum were still trying to make my dad more comfortable on the couch and he thankfully now had his eyes open as he lay there. Dean took the towels over to my Mum and she started to gently wipe the wet blood from my dad's face. I started to cautiously approach them slowly because I was afraid that I might get in their way while they worked on him. Dean rushed back over to me and took the first aid kit from my hands while giving me an encouraging smile. He then returned to his father's side and the three of them continued to tend to my dad's wounds.** _

_**I stood there, hugging my sides, and started to feel incredibly awkward and useless, so I tried to think of something I could do to be of some help. I then returned to the bathroom to get some face cloths and other towels because there seemed to be so much blood for mum to clean up. I then hurried into the laundry room to grab a basket so that Mum would have something to throw the soiled towels into and took them out to her. As I walked towards her, I also brought over a nearby chair to take to her as well.** _

_" **Oh… Thanks Roo," she commented absentmindedly as she took a seat on the chair and continued to mop up some blood.**_

_" **No worries Mum."**_

_**I turned and went to dad's liquor cabinet and pulled out a fresh bottle of Jack Daniel's Whiskey and returned to the make shift clinic. My dad was looking much better now that most of the blood had been cleaned up. I stood to one side watching as John worked at stitching up the large cut on his forehead, which seemed to be the source of all the blood. As I stood there awestruck at how quickly John was working with the needle and thread to close up the wound, my Mum had gotten up to go to the kitchen and get a bowl of warm water to clean off the blood that had dried on my dad's face during this ordeal.** _

_**Once John had completed his task, he stood up and started collecting the cotton balls and gauze he had used to clean dad's battle wound. Dean then got to work bandaging my dad's forehead to protect the newly sewn stitches.** _

_**I then took a step forward and timidly held the bottle out to my dad saying, "I… uh… I thought that you might want something to drink, dad _ **…**_ You know to ease the pain and all?"** _

_" **Oh… uh… Thanks," he replied, taking the bottle while avoiding making any eye contact with me.**_

_**Mum had bundled up all of the towels and face cloths into the laundry basket and was getting up to take them to the laundry room. Once she was standing, I grasped the opposite side of the basket and quietly said, "Mum, why don't you stay here with dad. I can take care of these for you. Honestly it's the least I could do right now for you."  
** _

_**She gently touched my cheek, smiled and said, "Thank you Roo."** _

_**I took them to the laundry and started a load in the hopes that I could get the blood out of them by starting the wash so quickly. Once the cycle was started, I stepped back into the kitchen. John was now seated at the breakfast nook, while Dean was at the fridge pulling out a couple of bottles of beer.** _

_" **Wow! John, that was so awesome. I can't believe that you stitched dad up so quickly," I remarked as I sat across from him at the table.**_

_" **It's really quite easy Addy," John replied trying to play down the importance of his handiwork. "If you can sew a button, you can stitch a battle wound."**_

_**Dean was now seated beside his dad and they both took a drink from their bottles. John gave his son a small sideways glare at his underage drinking, but Dean just shrug off the silent admonishment and continued to enjoy his cold frothy beverage.** _

_**I chuckled softly and said, "I can definitely sew a button onto anything, but I don't think I could ever do what you just did in there John."** _

_**He gave me a sly smile, placed his bottle on the table and rolled up the sleeve on his left arm to reveal a blood soaked makeshift bandage that dominated the length of his forearm.** _

_" **Well, if you wanted, you could practice on me right now," John offered.**_

_" **Really? But… John… I really don't want to hurt you…"**_

_**John held my left hand with his right and reassured me by saying, "You won't hurt me anymore than the thing that did this to me. Come on, Addy… You're more than capable… and 'll walk you through it."** _

_**Dean had lined up all of the tools that I would need to patch John's cut and was walking into the living room saying, "I'll grab you a strong 'anesthetic' for you before Addy gets started Dad."** _

_**I stared at John for another moment but broke out of my near trance when he broke out into a wide grin as he let out an enthusiastic chuckle.** _

_" **I can get Dean to do it if you would prefer," he said warmly."Seriously there's no pressure here Addy."  
**_

_" **No… No, it's okay," I replied as I got up and picked up the bottle of rubbing alcohol that Dean had left on the table. "I should learn this kind of stuff if I'm going to stay in the family business, so now is as good as time as any to do so."**_

_**I pulled my chair around and sat beside John so that I could start to clean his cut with the rubbing alcohol and cotton balls. John's face contorted into a look of pure pain as I did my work, but he just continued to offer words of encouragement to keep me on task while I worked.** _

_" **Don't worry so much darlin'. I know that I have to go through a lot more pain before you're done fixing me up. Just stay focused on the wound, not my face, okay? That will help you get through this, I promise."**_

_" **Okay… But still… I'm sorry John."**_

_**Dean placed a glass filled with Scotch in front of his dad and then squeezed my left shoulder.** _

_" **Addy, it's easier than you think… you can do this," Dean said as he echoed John's sentiments.**_

_**I didn't want to let either of the Winchester men down, so I soldiered through and focused solely on the deep cut on John's forearm. After I was done, he lifted his arm to inspect my stitch work.** _

_" **You did a really great job Addy. I don't think that this one's going to scar as badly as some of my previous cuts. You relax now, darlin', I'll finish patching it up from here."**_

_**I exhaled the breath that I had apparently been holding while I sewed up John's arm at his kind words and actually did start to feel more relaxed.** _

_" **Really? It's okay?" I questioned with a tone of uncertainty.**_

_**Dean was still standing to my left and he gave my shoulder another reassuring squeeze.** _

_" **Addy, you did a really great job, especially for your first time."**_

_" **Thanks… Hey, John, I'll clean up this mess, you just finish up with that bandage."**_

_**As I gathered up the used cotton balls, I caught a glimpse of John and Dean exchanging bemused smiles before they returned to enjoying their beers.** _

During the night, Dean had gotten up to use the washroom and as he made his way back to our room, he ran into Toby, who was looking somewhat upset.

"Hey… You okay Little Man?" Dean asked while dropping into a crouched position.

"Ummm… Kinda not," Toby responded quietly.

"You had a nightmare?" Toby nodded. "Was it about Rene?"

Toby shook his head and replied, "No… Addy told me that Sam killed him and that he's never coming back… Especially since you burned his body and all. That was all true, wasn't it?!"

"Yeah, that's right," Dean confirmed. "Did you want to talk to me about your new nightmare?"

Toby looked up and gave Dean a soft half-smile, "Well… It's not really a 'new' nightmare… But you wouldn't mind talking about it?"

"Absolutely not Toby. Why don't we go down stairs, get a drink before we talk it out?"

Once there were in the kitchen, Toby took a seat at the table and Dean went to the fridge to get them each a beverage.

"So… Toby… What's your poison? Beer? Scotch?" He questioned, looking over his shoulder at the younger male.

"Dean! I don't think I'm allowed to have either of those," Toby replied with a slight tone of shock.

"Okay, so two cups of warmed milk it is then," Dean retorted with a chuckle, winking as he turned towards the cupboard with a jug of milk in his right hand.

Dean placed a warmed mug in front of Toby as he took a seat across from him and asked, "So what was this not so new nightmare about?"

"Bigfoot," Toby replied before taking a drink from his mug.

Dean choked on his drink as he snickered. "Bigfoot?"

"Yeah… what's so funny?"

"You do know he's not real, right Toby? You really don't have to worry about him at all," Dean answered with a bemused tone.

"Yeah, that's what Addy says too. But… How do you know he's not real? I bet there was a time that you thought that vampires and demons weren't real either. How do you know that Bigfoot isn't hiding somewhere in the woods killing people without being found out?" Toby asked assertively. He had made the same argument to me on more than one occasion when he tried to convince me of the validity of his fear.

"Hmm… Well, you might have a point there Toby…" Dean conceded thoughtfully.

"Really!" Toby interrupted worriedly. "Addy always said that I was crazy…"

"Well, she might have a point too," Dean continued coolly, not rising to the bait. Toby looked up at him with a look of total confusion. "Well, Tobs, following your logic, Bigfoot lives in the wood, right?" Toby nodded with a look of uncertainty. "So, why would he be here in the cornfields of Iowa? I think a more likely place for his home would be somewhere like… I don't know… Canada. So, I say, stay out the Canadian woods and Bigfoot won't be a problem."

Toby took another drink from his mug while contemplating Dean's rationale. "So, if I stay out of the woods I'll be safe?"

"That's the way I see it," Dean confirmed as he finished his drink.

"Huh… I've never really thought of it that way before. Thanks Dean."

Toby took Dean"s now empty mug with his own mug over to the island and placed them in the dishwasher.

"Okay, I feel better now." Toby ran over and gave Dean a hug before running back up the stairs to bed and shouted over his shoulder at the doorway, "Thanks again Dean!"

Dean slowly followed him out of the kitchen and back upstairs. He was somewhat amazed that he had been able to ease Toby's mind so effortlessly while remembering all of the stories I had told him about Toby and his not so vivid nightmares.

As he climbed back into bed, my eyes fluttered open.

"Dean? Is everything okay?"

"Sorry Lay… Everything's fine. Toby just had a nightmare, but he's okay now."

Dean was now lying on his side and he stroked my face in the dark.

"Really? Ah man… Was it about Meg and Rene?" I asked worriedly, starting to become more alert out of my dead sleep.

"No. He knows that they're dead and gone… It was about Bigfoot," he replied through a chuckle.

"Oh… His old standby. Are you sure I shouldn't get up?" I asked still quite concerned.

Dean managed somehow in the dark to lean down and kiss my lips. "Lay, honestly there's no need. I convinced him that he's safe."

"Really? How?" I asked quite astonished at his accomplishment. "Sorry… I don't mean to sound so surprised, but I've been trying to do that unsuccessfully now for six years."

"I just told him to stay out any woods in Canada and he'd be fine," Dean replied nonchalantly.

"What?" I questioned with a chuckle.

"You heard me… Now back to sleep. He's fine. You still need to rest so you can heal up. I took care of it, really. Go to sleep."

I snuggled into his side and yawned. "Thanks Dean. I'm really grateful for your help with Toby."

He smoothed back my hair and kissed my head. "I'm happy to help. Sweet dreams Lay."

_" **Ads! Ads! Wait up!" A voice called behind me as I weaved my way through the crowded corridor on my way to my locker.**_

_**I stopped and took a deep breath before turning around to confront the person I knew that was following me. I was beyond frustrated that I hadn't managed to slip out to my car unseen after class, but knew I wouldn't get there without appeasing my 'admirer' in some way.** _

_" **Hey Don. What's up?" I finally asked despondently.**_

_" **Holy Geez! Look at that shiner!" He exclaimed as he cupped my chin to get a better look at my fresh black eye. "Where'd you get that Addy? That guy you brought to Winter Formal didn't do that to you, did he?"**_

_" **Dean?" I chuckled as I used my free hand to extract my chin from his grasp. "No, it wasn't him! I was just a little careless while I was working on Phantom… Besides, Dean hasn't been in town for weeks…"**_

_" **Oh… So that wasn't his '67 Impala that I saw parked by the front entrance here just a minute ago?"**_

_" **What…? Here…? Today? Excuse me Don!"**_

_**I ran to my locker to grab my bag and jacket then made my way to the front doors of the school as quickly as possible.** _

_**I paused at the top of the stairs to slip on my jacket and then I flew down the stairs towards Dean who was leaning against the passenger side door of the Impala. As I got closer, I didn't slow down; I nearly threw my bag at his feet and slammed into him as I gave him an overly enthusiastic hug.** _

_" **DEAN! You're here!" I cried out excitedly before I kissed him a little too eagerly.**_

_**When I pulled back, he gently held my face in both hands and placed a soft kiss on my lips. "I haven't been away that long, Lay. Although… it is nice to know that I've been missed."** _

_" **Dean!" I interrupted with a tone of exasperation. "Seriously? You're still going to call me 'Lay'?"**_

_" **I told you, it fits you perfectly," he teased amorously. "Now… Where in the hell did you get this from?" He asked as concern overtook his face as he caressed my black eye with his thumb.**_

_" **Mum and I went after a vengeful spirit over the weekend as a Pre-Birthday celebration and it really didn't seem to like me at all. I tried ducking everything it threw at me, but I still ended up taking a book off my face."**_

_**Dean was biting his lip during my explanation in an attempt to suppress his laughter. I punched him softly in the arm while a smirk spread across my face.** _

_" **Dean! It's not funny!" I scolded him trying to contain my own laughter. "Do you know how hard it is to explain where I got it from?"**_

_" **Oh… Shit! Yeah… So, what's the official story?"**_

_" **My absentee boyfriend beats me then takes off, only to return to town periodically," I teased.**_

_**Dean rolled his eyes and retorted, "Oh yeah? Who is he? I'll rip his lungs out!"** _

_**I couldn't help it anymore and started to giggle. I kissed him lightly before replying in a more serious tone, "The official story is that I'm a klutz and I got hurt working on my car."** _

_" **Hmm… Sounds believable," he said as he pulled me into a tight hug. "I wish I could have been there to protect you. And… I'm sorry I'll be missing your birthday again. But third time's a charm, right? Maybe I'll finally be here for your 18th birthday on the actual day."**_

_" **Oh… So you're not staying until the weekend?" I looked up and gave him a playful pout.**_

_" **Sorry Lay," he started then kissed my cheek as he looked down at me sadly. "I have to get to Ohio for this job and timing is crucial for it. I'm so sorry… But I really wanted to see you before your birthday."**_

_" **Well, it's better than not seeing you at all I guess," I replied. I stood up on my tip toes and kissed him. "Thank you for stopping by… It means so much to me."**_

_" **Here… I got something for you."**_

_**He wriggled out of my arms and opened the passenger side door. When he turned back around, he was holding a thin long package wrapped in silver paper.** _

_" **Oh my God! Dean, you shouldn't have!" I exclaimed as I took the box and gave him a hug.**_

_**While still being squeezed in my arms, he replied, "Happy Birthday Lay."** _

_**I ripped the paper of the present and Dean tossed it into the Impala so that I could open the box. Inside I found a silver bladed knife with a rosewood handle with the letters "AJ" branded into the bottom of the handle.** _

_" **Dean…" I started in absolute awe.**_

_" **The blade is purest silver they'll make 'em. You need to remember to take it when you go after any shape shifters or werewolves, okay?"**_

_**Tears brimmed my eyes. "Dean… It's so beautiful. Thank you."** _

_**He leaned down and kissed me before continuing, "You need to be prepared for anything when you go on hunts."** _

_" **I will… I promise… So… Do you have to head out right away? You can't stay… Even for a little while?"**_

_" **No… Sorry, Lay. But I'll be back soon, okay?"**_

_" **You better! I still owe you your birthday gift. But if you come back next month, I could always just combo it with your Valentine's gift," I reasoned with myself as I held him tightly.**_

_" **Really?" He questioned while cocking an eyebrow. "Well, I might not be able to get back for Valentine's Day, but I'll be sure to get back before March, okay?"**_

_" **Okay… Please stay safe… And kick some ass!" I said into his chest as he held me. "I love you."**_

_**He kissed the top of my head. "Love you too. Now you steer clear of flying books."** _

_" **Promise… I'll be ducking faster in the future."**_

_**He gave me one last kiss before he crawled behind the wheel of the Impala and waved as he left town once again.** _

When I woke up, Dean was just coming back into our room while towel drying his hair.

He kneeled down beside the bed and said, "Hey Beautiful, how'd you sleep?"

I moved closer to him by lying on my stomach so that we were nose to nose at the edge of the bed. "I slept wonderfully." I finished by leaning in to kiss him.

Dean heaved a heavy sigh, took my hands in his and rested his chin on top of them once we had both pulled back out of our embrace. I could tell that there was something weighing on his mind by the sad look that overtook his face.

"You guys are leaving today, aren't you?" I asked with the utmost confidence that I had read his facial expressions correctly.

"Yeah… Sammy did some more research this morning and the storms we were looking at yesterday are getting more violent. We're pretty sure that means it's something we should be checking on. It's not too far away, so we don't have to leave right away, but we do need to leave today."

I closed my eyes and took a long deep breath before responding through a grumble, "Stupid Apocalypse."

When I opened my eyes, Dean was shaking from silently laughing. "Well Dean it is stupid… I hate that you have to leave so soon, I get why, but still hate it and I think it's dumb."

Dean leaned in to kiss me again and wrapped his hands around the back of my head. I rolled onto my back and pulled him down on top of me so that we would be more comfortable.

"Sam was going to start breakfast, but I think we have few minutes before everything's ready," Dean said with mischief in his eyes.

"Oh? Did you have anything in mind to kill some time?" I asked him as I shifted on the bed so my head was now on his pillow.

Dean lowered his body again onto mine and kissed my neck before making his way to my cheek and mouth. Dean started to undo my nightshirt as I tugged the bottom of his shirt to guide it off his torso.

While we working to undress each other, we heard a knock at the door.

"Addy? Addy? Are you awake?" Toby called through the door.

I flopped my head again the pillow while Dean rest his forehead on my chest. "Dammit! Great timing Tobs," I whispered to no one in particular.

"Just pretend you're still asleep," Dean quietly said.

"Dean… Seriously? The moment's kinda more than ruined now," I replied through a hushed tone.

"Fine, be that way," he retorted with a grin before kissing my lips softly and getting off the bed.

"Yeah Toby! I'm up!" I finally called back as I sat up and fastened the buttons on my shirt.

Dean had walked over to the door and opened it for Toby who was carry a tray with plate of fruit salad and French toast and two mugs of coffee.

"I thought you'd enjoy having breakfast in bed," he explained as he unfolded the small legs to stand it on the bed over my lap.

"Aww Toby you shouldn't have. Thanks Buddy," I reached over to pull him close so that I could kiss his cheek.

"Sam did all the hard work, I just came up with the idea of bringing it to you," he admitted sheepishly.

"Well it's a wonderful idea. Thanks again Toby," I said while squeezing his hand before picking up a mug of coffee with my left hand.

"Hey! You can use your left hand again!" Toby exclaimed cheerfully.

"Yep! And I can breathe easier too. I'm not 100% yet, but I'm getting there."

Toby went over and sat facing me on my side of the bed while I ate. He passed Dean the other mug of coffee and Dean made himself comfortable in the recliner along with a piece of toast he liberated from my plate. Toby helped himself to some fruit while we all sat there together.

"So does that mean you're going to be staying home for a while Addy?" Toby asked between bites.

I nodded as I drank another gulp of coffee. "I figured here is as good a place as any to heal up."

He looked over his shoulder at Dean and asked, "I know Addy said you can't stay forever, but will you be staying while she's recuperating?"

Dean shook his head and replied sadly, "No Toby, I won't. Sam and I found a job that we have to take care of as soon as possible… We're actually going to be leaving later today."

"Oh…" Toby responded forlornly.

"But that reminds me… Can I ask you a favor Toby?"

"Definitely! What is it?" He asked eagerly.

"Well… Since I have to leave before Lay is feeling better, do you think you could keep an eye on her for me and keep me updated about how much she's missing me?" He questioned with a playful grin.

"You can count on me Dean!"

Once I finished eating, Toby immediately hopped of the bed and taken charge of collapsing the legs on the tray before I could attempt to help.

"You're supposed to take it easy Addy," he teased before he turned to leave the room.

I walked over and sat on Dean's lap and kissed him softly and asked, "Did you just recruit Toby to be your spy?"

Dean gently tucked my hair behind each of my ears and smiled as he said, "I just want to know someone's watching out for you when I know that I can't be here."

I put my head on his shoulder and cuddled in closer to his body.

"I wish you didn't have to go," I quietly whined.

"I know… But, the offer still stands… You could still come with us," he said as he kissed my head.

"Dean… Please don't start that again. I don't want our last moments together today to end with us fighting."

"Sorry… But I'm just saying," Dean replied with a shrug.

I decided not to let him bait me and hugged him one last time before I stood up off his lap.

"Well I guess I should get dress and we should start the day," I said as I walked to my dresser and pulled out a pair of grey yoga pants and a blue and white baseball t-shirt. I placed them on the bed and started to undo my night shirt.

Dean walked up behind me and hugged my waist while saying into my hair, "I'm sorry Lay. I really didn't mean to upset you."

I leaned back and kissed his cheek and replied, "I'm not mad Dean."

He stepped back and cocked an eyebrow asking, "Really? You're not?"

I pulled down my top and turned to face him. "How could I be? You're just doing what I told you to do. I hate that you're going so soon, but you have to. I'm okay… really. I'll just need some time to adjust after everything I've been though, but in the end we both have to be who we are _ **…**_ and you need to go and kick some ass."

Dean chuckled, "Okay, I will. And remember, I'm just a phone call away."

"No worries… You're already on speed dial," I answered coyly. "Now let's get you guys all set to hit the road."

When we got downstairs Toby was surfing through the channels trying to find something for him and Sam to watch.

"What about this Sam?" He asked hopefully.

Sam was looking at Dean and I with a slight frown on his face and when he didn't answer Toby looked up at him then followed his gaze to Dean and I in the doorway.

"Tobs, Sam and Dean have to get ready to head out to that job soon," I explained.

"Oh… okay," he replied as he turned the TV off. He had grown accustomed to my abrupt departures so he didn't seem fazed by Sam and Dean having to leave so soon.

Sam got up and walked towards me and I wrapped my arms around his waist.

"It was great to finally meet you Sam. If I haven't made it clear by now, I really do appreciate everything that you did for us…" I stopped as tears started to choke me.

"You're welcome Addy. Always happy to help," he replied as he squeezed me tightly in his arms.

I looked up at him and smiled, "You and Dean take care of each other out there."

"I promise we will... You take care of yourself too."

Toby had rushed over to Dean and gave him a hug as well.

"Thank you for everything Dean! You guys are the best! And don't worry; I'll keep an eye on Addy for you!"

Tears welled up in Dean's eyes and he was silent for a moment as he held the young boy in his arms.

"I'll always be there for you Toby. Anytime you need me, just call, okay? I'll try to get back for a visit as soon as I can," he managed to say without letting his emotions completely over take him.

Toby quickly turned and ran into Sam's body, so Sam knelt down slightly to engulf Toby into a large bear hug. Dean quickly turned into the kitchen, wiping tears from his cheeks and I followed him into the kitchen.

"Will you visit soon too Sam?" Toby questioned hopefully.

"Sure will Toby. You've got my number too, so call anytime you need us, okay?" Sam replied.

"Awesome! I will!" Toby released Sam from his grasp. "Can I help you carry your bags to the car?"

"Sure. Why don't you go and grab Dean's bag? Dean? You all packed?" Sam called towards the kitchen.

"Yeah!" Dean hollered back without showing himself to the other males. "I'll go up and get it in a second!"

"Don't worry! I got it Dean!" Toby yelled back happily as he followed Sam upstairs.

I held Dean's face in my hands and wiped the tears from his cheek with my thumbs.

"I didn't think it would be this hard to say goodbye Lay," he admitted with a hitch in his throat.

Unable to contain my own emotions any longer, I let a few tears escape my eyes as well. "I know what you mean… But we'll be fine…"

I couldn't continue because a huge lump had formed in my throat, so I pulled his lips to mine in a reassuring kiss. We didn't notice that Sam and Toby had returned to the kitchen until we hear the metallic clinking sound of the door lock being turned. After we pulled back from our embrace, Dean turned his back to Sam and Toby as he tried to regain his composure, wiping the moisture away from his face. I instinctively covered my mouth with my right hand and gave the two of them an apologetic look. However, neither of them had stopped to watch or scold us and they were already at the trunk of the Impala by the time I got to the door.

Dean met me at the door and wrapped an arm around my waist as he commented into my hair, "Guess this is it, huh?"

"Yep." I turned, pecked his lips and continued, "I love you Dean, never forget that."

"I love you too Lay…" He stopped before tears overtook him again.

He hugged me close one last time then continued to the Impala. There he hugged Toby one last time before heading to the passenger side of the car.

Toby then ran to the top of the stairs with me and I held him with my arms draped around his neck as his back was pressed against my chest. We stood there and waved as the Winchesters disappeared down the driveway en route to their next battle.

"Well Tobs… We should get you ready to head home too," I said once the car was out of view.

"Okay. I'll go upstairs and get my stuff together," he replied with a slight tone of remorse.

"While you do that I'll call your mom," I finished while ruffling his hair.

On his way upstairs, I heard two muffled voices coming from the living room instead of the sound of Toby's footsteps on the stairs. For a moment I forgot that no demon could enter my house and I tore over to the doorway in a mild panic. When I got there I was that Toby had wrapped his arms around Castiel's trench clad legs.

"…for everything. Will you be going with Sam and Dean on this hunt?"

Castiel looked down so that he could look Toby in the eye.

"Yes, I will be supporting the brothers Winchester on some of their assignments. I was happy to be of assistance to your family," Castiel answered in a slight monotone.

Toby threw his arms around Castiel's torso and exclaimed, "It's so cool that I can say I met an actual angel! Like _ **…**_ you're seriously one of God's angels! So cool!"

Castiel pressed Toby close to him and I saw a bright light emit from the angel's hands and Toby quietly whimpered. I stepped forward trying not to immediately question Castiel's actions because I didn't want to alarm Toby.

The young boy then turned away  and saw me behind him so he whispered, "Wow! He has a tight grip!" before he continued up the stairs.

Once he was out of earshot, I turned to the angel and crossly questioned, "What the hell was that Castiel?"

"I should have spoken to you first, my apologies, but Toby will require protection now…"

"Protection? What did you do?" I interrupted anxiously.

"I engraved the same protection symbols onto Tobias' ribs that I have already etched onto the Winchesters to hide him from being found by any angels," he explained calmly.

"So Lucifer can't find him," I mused. "Oh… Sorry… Thank you." I apologized slightly embarrassed when I realized my error.

"No apologies are necessary Adelaide. I should have warned you before hand," he countered with a soft smile. He looked around the room and then questioned, "Where are Sam and Dean? I need to speak with them."

"Sorry Castiel, you just missed them. They're heading… Oh geez, I don't know where, but they headed out for a job. Dean did say that it wasn't too far from here… Umm… Bobby was doing research with them yesterday…" I continued nervously.

"That's alright Adelaide. I'll go to Bobby's or call them later," he interrupted mercifully.

"Okay… Please keep them safe Castiel."

He nodded then disappeared in the blink of an eye.

While I stood there feeling completely stunned, Toby came bounding down the stairs with his bag in hand.

"I think I've got everything Addy!"

I recovered quickly and smiled down at him warmly before I wrapped my right arm around his shoulder, "Okay Buddy. Now _ **…**_ let's get you home."


End file.
